*shakes fist at clouds*
What’s next, people?! The Republicans won huge gains in the governors’ house and the Senate AND Benedict Cumberbatch is engaged? What’s next today? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will announce their divorce?! Anyway, it seems like Benedict and “secret girlfriend” Sophie Hunter are the real deal. They’ve been seeing each other for – conservative estimate – at least six months. Most people believe that Sophie and Benedict have known each other a lot longer than that too, and this isn’t even the first rumor about an engagement – remember this? And it seems that our Otter agreed to put the engagement announcement in The Times:
Man announces engagement in newspaper
http://t.co/gtugraStSJ pic.twitter.com/7ngtvumXev
— The Independent (@Independent) November 5, 2014
It reads: “The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katherine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London.” And if that’s not enough Twihard Proof for the loonies, Benedict’s rep told People Magazine: “I am delighted to confirm this morning’s announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are engaged.”
So, all of those stupid tabloid stories were true. Benedict did go to Scotland to meet Sophie’s parents and get their blessing. Sophie and Benedict are the real deal and they will be married. They will have otter-babies. And it’s… fine. I’ve always wanted good things for Benedict and I think he’ll enjoy being married and he’ll especially enjoy fatherhood and all of that. Am I a little bit disappointed? Of course. I love him and I wanted his otter-babies! But it’s okay. Congrats, Bendy!
Here are some red carpet photos of Sophie from 2011 & 2012:
Photos courtesy of Getty, Pacific Coast News.
Anyone else want to jump on the conspiracy train with me, lol? I’ll hold my thoughts for a bit on that one…
Well, if that’s the way they’re going, then congrats to ’em both. I’ll eat all my crow now, please, with a side of my hat and my foot.
Sham engagement to get the press off his back? Gosh I hope so! But I doubt it. Having said that, engaged after a few months of dating is just SO NOT HIM. Unless she purposely knocked herself up knowing how desperate he is for a family…
@ Claire
I agree seems very odd, unless she was the woman the BBC lady mentioned before June. He just doesn’t seem off the cuff sort of guy but who knows. Good for him but tbh my crush on him disappeared several months ago.
I could be wrong, but I think the Eaton thing was overblown. what she was alleged to have said was she was charged with finding him a love interest. That would seem weird considering he knew SH since long before he knew Eaton. I think she was talking about Sherlock tbh. A new love interest for the new season. But I could be wrong.
You are probably right I hadn’t been following him so much for the past several months. It is odd though well we will see… AND she would be called Sophie v popular name at one point. Could say it out loud in a bar and half the women would turn.
What do you think?
Cumberbatch has some weird fans. So maybe an engagement offers his girlfriend=fiance more protection as she would have a higher standing in his weirdo-fan’s eyes. Bashing the fiance is quite another cup of tea than bashing some “just-girlfriend-can-end-any-time” bashing.
All the best of luck to them anyway.
I don’t know. Sham engagement doesn’t seem his style. And if they have been friends for years and then started dating, I can totally see a quick engagement.
I wish them all the best. Cumby is talented and his voice is a British treasure and his lady seems pretty cool.
Come on, spill the beans. I would love to here your conspiracy theory
LOL what Claire said, or a long long long engagement then “aw, we split” after it’s obvious his fans aren’t warming to her. It’s really none of anyone’s business if he marries her, her sister, or the entire seventh fleet in a lovely ceremony on the moon, but it’s just so odd that, after acting “not like himself” when he was “dating” her, they’re suddenly engaged. BUT who knows what they’re like off camera. I still don’t see the majority of his fans warming to her (but they don’t have to since they’re his fans and not hers).
Yeah I thought about that MM re: long engagement. But not because of his fans. i want a long engagement so he gives a good long think about this first. LOL@ “the entire seventh fleet”.
Who knows how many fans warm to her or not (they’re fake fawning on twitter while they all die and scream inside lol). All I know is people who had no idea who she was at LFF thought she was a stuck up brat with her attitude.
On twitter btw? Follow me: @TheRespectedFew. I don’t like waiting till another CB article to catch up with sane BC fans.
What do you mean by “not acting like himself”? I haven’t really been following him for a while now. I’m only ever in full Cumberbitch mode when Sherlock is airing..
I find it sad that the picture I keep seeing attached to articles about their engagement is Benedict alone standing under the rainy umbrella from the recent LFF. It’s the ONLY picture of him taken that night where he didn’t look chuffed to bits about everything.
Hope they are both happy but like a couple of others they are getting a big old side eye from me. It’s just weird.
Or pics of them at the French Open looking bored shit less with each other and the tennis.
Its just weird. One picture of them smiling together would have been nice. Not much to ask from a newly engaged couple.
Smiling wont break the privacy facade guys ffs.
Oh Lindy. You’re my soul sister today. And I love your kitty picture.
I don’t know if he’d go the fake relationship route, but then I don’t know him. I’m really happy for him and wish the two of them well. She’s pretty, around his age, a brunette and his choice. Isn’t that what everyone wanted? I can remember during the GF talk people gnashing their teeth that he’d show up with some blonde bimbo or a fetus. Good for him!
Thanks sigh((s))
The kitty is my face about this whole thing
I’ll reserve a seat on the conspiracy train (aisle, please)! Call me Detective Sherlotter!
1. Rhymes with umm… oskar?
2. He met Sophie in 2009, fell in love, and would like to make a long term commitment and build a life based on love and respect with her?
3. Eddie Redmayne paid for the advertisement?
I think 2 is right out since he was in a LTR with the then-love-of-his-life at that time, and dated Anna James right after, and a succession of gfs and FWBs after her.
3… I’d buy that, lol. BC is known to be frugal.
Yeah I kind of think 1 is true. Man I’m mean.
Is there a seat for me on the conspiracy train? The timing alone is hilarious.
Still a fan of Ben, still think he’s adorable and very talented, not a fan of this stunt, but …*shrugs*
This Oscar campaign is gonna be very long, and it’s just November—
Well, it’s Oscar season. There’s a conspiracy theory right there.
I’ve thought of nothing but conspiracy theories, MissMary! Here are a couple:
1). She’s pregnant.
2.) He is gay/bi (worked for George Clooney!) and needs a beard who he can at least hang out with.
3). He really is very sick and wants to have a baby before things get worse health-wise.
Those are just a few. What are yours?
Those are some good ones! My favorite at the moment is Oscar buzz. Keep his name in the public eye for a *good* reason, get him some awww how sweet type sound bites and interviews, move attention away from his past which is checkered with FWBs, casual gfs, and rumors (KE, Anna Pruss, etc)… Give SH some media attention, bump her career (such as it is)…and come March, after awards are done, “awww, we just didn’t work out, we’re still great friends” (and maybe she gets a nice check in her bank account, maybe not).
BUT I’m super cynical. Maybe they’re in true love 5evah and they’ll be like Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and married and happy forever and a day. But I doubt it. Highly.
Have you heard 3 anywhere else, Green Eyes? I don’t like it but I keep seeing it 🙁
3 came out of Data Lounge. Someone on there claimed they “knew for a fact” (several years ago now) he had some disease or disorder and was sterile, or was wasting away, etc. The same site also said he’s a high functioning alcoholic and has a wicked temper on set, but that’s pretty patently untrue (at least the temper part… who knows about the alcoholic part).
@MissMary: That sounds an awful lot like his character in “Wreckers”.
Ya know… I’d have to go dig on DL and look but I wonder if those rumors came up around the time of that movie.
If they do get married, I wonder if they’ll do it by summer.
I just hope he brings his parents, though, if he gets an Oscar nom! They have done so much for his entire life that it seems kind of unfair if he takes his fiancee instead.
They look alike.
I think even Cumberbatch’s most fanatic fans would treat his fiance better than his girlfriend. So maybe the engagement offers HER some protection against the fanatic weirdos.
I would guess it will be a longer engagement – nothing wrong with that, btw.
Just in time for the official release of Imitation Game and the Oscar push? Has he picked up the old Clooney routine of the PR gf who you parade up and down the red carpet whilst promoting your film with the sole aim of more media interest and the actor remaining the centre of attention throughout the months of award shows? Then mid next year (before Hamlet)they will “split” based on work commitments and not being able to see each other? She walks away with a raised profile for her directing career and a thank you cheque – maybe?
There hasn’t even been a whisper that he had shacked up with someone – and his online fanbase would be all over that. They know where he lives. This seems to very out of the blue. But then again, Harvey W knows how to run an Oscar’s campaign and win and I think Benny desperately wants that statue and to be taken seriously in the industry so he will do whatever is instructed of him. Not to mention that the other Brit who will be in the running (Eddie R) is engaged so maybe Benny thinks he needs to compete on al levels?
Wasn’t there a twitter pic of him on a date at the theatre with blonde only a few months ago? Yep, great love story here.
Hasn’t been a whisper of them dating? It’s been all over twitter, tumbler, and there have been several articles in the press!
Looks like he found his otter half! Heyo!
(No seriously, is everyone okay? Need a doctor’s note excusing them from work?)
hahahahaha
Can I get a doc excuse? Not for this, but for stuff…and things.
I’ll get you a note for illnesses related to the recent Potato Famine.
Yay! Until Magic Mike 2 comes out it’s gonna be a desert for me.
P.S. It’s getting ugly in here pretty quick. I’m gonna go count my ceramic cockatoo inventory.
@Jaderu – are you suggesting Benny and Sophie are pulling an Almalooney?
@PunkyMomma we would only be so lucky to have Keeping Up With The Kumberbatches.
LOL no, actually I wasn’t, but who knows. Maybe. I was just surprised by how quickly things got so negative toward Sophie.
I think he’s just getting engaged. Maybe a little Oscar campaigning help here and there, but I haven’t seen myself anything to suggest it’s a set up. I don’t follow him as closely as some so maybe I don’t see everything. I’m kind of a cumberbitch newb.
GET OVER IT ™.
There’s still hope for a Waxy-Swiftbatch in the museum.
@Kiddo. Okay fine. I’m over it. I’m already on to shipping Kim’s eyebrows with McConaughey’s labcoat.
#McMuppeBrow5ever
Kiddo! Glad you could make it to the engagement party we’re throwing here!
@Kiddo. It’s pretty obvious Kim is stealing my look👀.
(Clutching pearls and bottle of Ativan) No! I’m NOT okay – My Otter is going to play exclusively on Sophie’s violin? NO! (But I wish them well – she must be excellent at shucking oysters. JS)
Um, can you pass me an Ativan please? I need one just to get through the comments.
Here — take two, you’ll need both — it’s a long thread.
Thanks Punky! It’s fun to start at the bottom because there is some serious Otterhard stuff going down.
Thank you for this comment. I needed a tiny life line thrown as I drown in my snotty tears.
Shame no one is commenting. I thought there would be more comments and un-sanctioned buffoonery.
Has anyone asked for a statement by the boyish carefully coiffed curl? We need witness testimony.
Pfft, that curl reeks of quiet dignity.
I always thought the hands had quiet dignity and that the curl told tales?
Shoot. I think you might be right (again).
*cries into futon*
Very good, madam. Slow clap for you!!
Whey hey! “Otter half”, love it 😀
I’m delighted for him, he’s been wanting to settle down for ages. They also seem well-met.
(there were rumours that they’ve been together longer than 6 months btw)
*grabs popcorn, sits back on Miss Mary’s train to watch this epic mess unfold*
Cumby, I thought better of you than everything about this. Really I did.
I’m right behind you. Can we get some junior mints and sprite on this train?
There’s a well-stocked snack car, lol. I came prepared.
Weird, weird, weird.
Friends for several years, dating for a few months. A well orchestrated flounce by her into a crowd of paps five mins before him, ditto and very OTT entrance to the red carpet right in front of a whole crowd of fans and an escort along the red carpet. Separate cars to a pretentious celeb hang out always full of paps. Not a shred of chemistry (he’s not making eye contact with her in ANY of those tennis pics and someone I know at hay said they saw them when nobody else did and they looked totally disconnected) and now a grand and very public and IMO pretentious announcement in a national paper, despite the fact he’s oh so very private.
What. The. Eff.
This. All of this.
Seconded.
I’ve been demonstrably wrong before, but I’m not feeling it. Congrats to ’em if this is what they want but it is so…blargh and basic and weird. Well, more power to ’em. He has the money for a good solicitor if he needs one. And it smacks like she’s getting her wish–a foot in the “big” fame world.
What MM said.
Yes, yes and yes. Yes to everything.
Well if you known each other for years, romantic relationships can move forward very quickly. A friend of mine married her childhood sweetheart. (He gave her her first kiss. And she had forgotten about that, hahah)
Someone english, is this the normal thing to do? Announce an engagement in the news papers stating your parents names and where they come from as well?
@Maria: If you’re posh (which BC certainly is), yes, that’s not unusual. I notice they’re being all modern listing the mothers’ names first instead of the fathers’.
No @NIC. I didn’t mean to reply to you
Yes, Maria, this is the traditional way engagements in England (and Australia, where I am) are announced by posh (and those who like to think they are) people. The only difference is that they’ve included the mothers’ names first. In days gone by an announcement usually read, “Mr and Mrs George Jones are proud/happy/thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Henrietta…”
Wow. There is a tsunami of venom going on.
I’m gonna sit in the bleachers to avoid getting it on me.
‘A tsunami of venom’
I hope that isn’t directed at me, because if it is, then wtf? In what way is what I said ‘venomous’? It’s called an opinion which isn’t gushing and fawning. You can head over to imdb for that.
These people are giving the Robsten crazies a run for their money in the bitterness race.
@carrie
Excuse me? I’d really prefer it if you didn’t cite ‘crazies’ in response to my comment as that makes no sense at all. By and large, as I said, people are rational and unafraid to speak their mind on here, usually without unwarranted nastiness.
Do where does that make them ‘crazy’? I’d say the sycophantic and over invested nannies who seem intent on slaying anyone who doesn’t kiss his arse are the crazies. There’s always imdb if you’re more comfortable with the creepy ‘tears of joy’ stuff. What I like about this place is it has it’s own mind and there usually aren’t any mental fans who’ll crush you because you disagree.
yeah, it’s getting pretty snide around here today. conspiracy theories are par for the course, it’s a gossip site, but some of the comments… yeesh. you’d think this poor woman had sh*t in everyone’s cornflakes.
Actually, I heard she eats babies for breakfast. #truestory
Maybe it’s a different Benedict Cumberbatch?
Now that would be funny! lol
OMG that totally fits. Cookie for you!
I like it Abbott! I have no interesting conspiracy theories and my emotions remain unstirred so I will just quietly slip away…
Well played!
Why is it that if you’re even remotely critical/cynical of this you’re a jealous crazy fangirl?
I love BC’s acting, but I also liked the personality he gave across in interviews. He also seemed to have a chronic case of foot in mouth and bitchiness which I found nice and funny if I’m honest.
I never thought he’d be the type to play any sort of PR games or give a sh*t about what people thought to the point of hiding an important relationship, he struck me as a man who if he was in love with a woman would happily say it while still respecting her privacy. Someone who would tell the fans to eff off if they overstepped a mark into his personal life.
The cracks started to show when he went to the opening of envelopes but that could be chalked down to trying to get his name out there during down time after a project was pushed back.
However, the last 4 weeks have been a glaring contradiction of that, finished with this very public annoucement, which if he did it to please his parents as reported, tells me everything I need to know about it.
I love you, Lindy.
Lindy, you rock. Eloquent as always.
@Lindy: Word. It’s like he’s a different person, at least in how he’s presenting himself. Maybe that’s what he’s like IRL and has been this whole time, and it’s finally meshing with his public persona, but really… it’s offputting. I’ve been a fan of his work for a long time but I’m done with his baity public persona (even before this engagement announcement). I’ll keep watching his movies unless he does something super problematic and makes me sick of him entirely, but this whole weird month or so is just off putting as all get-out. In the past, he has had zero problem being public with someone and telling media and fans “this is my private life, back off” but now, all of a sudden, cloak and dagger? And interviews verging on misanthropic and rude? Yeah, wtf is up with that? It’s…well. It’s just not cricket. At least from a fan’s POV. Congrats to ’em if this works out and I’ll keep watching his work, but my esteem for him as dropped many notches.
•Lindy•
Eh, I actually don’t agree with most of the comments so I’ll sit by myself. Lol.
My guess is his urge to have a family over-road anything else and he’s always struck me as a bit old-fashioned. As most know, he has been hankering after family and fatherhood for *quite* some time. I also didn’t see his last interviews as anything but reflections of the publication they came out in (Elle UK was predictably gush-y). Plus, they probably have been dating longer than we know so it might not be as ‘rushed’ as we’re all assuming. Then again, they were friends so they also didn’t need to vet each other like most couples do.
Oscar campaigning? Honestly, it’s WAY too early for this news to have the desired effect. If it were just before the GG I’d be a tad more cynical right along with the rest of you but it’s early Nov (Guy Fawkes Day too! Ha! The irony is sweet) so this will flame out long before anyone has ballots in hand (for any major award: GG, BAFTAs, SAG, or Oscar).
Overall, I’m excited for him. I hope they have lasting power like his parents.
What Miss Mary said. It’s like he has had a personality transplant since this whole “thing” (whatever it is) really got serious, which only seems to have happened since July/August.
I’m with you, LadySlippers. This is the best news I’ve heard in months, no more “secret girlfriend” speculation on here. I’ve maintained that they were serious when she accompanied him at the Rhodes wedding and saw further confirmation of it when she was given special treatment at the LFF premier. Nevermind that they don’t exhibit affection or chemistry and avoided photographs together; behind closed doors, there could be all manner of kink going on. 😉
While I’m not surprised that so many of his admirers are talking smack about her (AS IF they know her!) and judging her based on external impressions that can be easily twisted into whatever they want. I think that “on paper” and looking at them side by side, she seems to be a good fit. We know he wants kids and after doing what she can with her acting career, she’s perfectly poised to change course and focus on a family now. At 36, her biological clock would be ticking pretty loudly and she may very well be keen on busting out a couple of kids before she turns 40. I think she’s pretty in an understated sort of way and looks really good next to him, better than anyone that he’s been with since Olivia.
That being said, I don’t envy her in the least. He’d be a fun fling, but I would not want to commit myself to someone who is as busy, famous and as popular with the ladies as Cumby. He also strikes me as anxious, moody and a bit immature and SH will be dealing with that full-time, along with all the other shit that comes with being the SO of a celebrity (long absences, being 2nd to his work, women soliciting him for sex, etc). I much prefer my huz who’s home every night and weekend and can leave work behind when he’s done for the day and be fully engaged with the family.
I look forward to seeing some public affection from them now that the cat’s out of the bag. C’mon HunterBatch, show us the love!
I’m with LadySlippers on this. It could very well be that he thought “I’m not getting any younger, so why not make the leap right now?” Although I’m wondering when he can schedule any sort of wedding and even a short honeymoon within the next year or so!
Pretty sure I’m with you on this, LadySlippers.
@Lindy
Seriously with no snide: have a sister hug. It’s so annoying when the ones you think are alright go and let you down with the usual wankiness, ain’t it?
Personal opinion, with snide: if they go to Hollywood and try to make it, they’re wanky, no matter how good the interview they give at the outset. Hollywood ambition is for narcissistic famewhores. The end. I think the posh ones get away with it more because people automatically think a posh voice comes with class. And it ain’t necessarily so.
(Note: I’m not equating “Hollywood” with “America”. Nothing wrong with America. But people who actually want to live for the art of acting DO NOT end up like this. They might make the odd Hollywood film, but as soon as it wraps, they’re out of there, pronto. And they don’t show up on gossip blogs.)
they make the odd film i never want to see LOL
im a firm believer if you want the good h-wood stuff, you better get out there. of couse all my faves end up on here 8D
•MountainRunner•
Exactly. Behaving in public isn’t always the best gauge of how they are in private. And he has gotten burned very badly with people either linking him with others when he wasn’t with them (Katia) or when it was casual (Lydia). So I think he learned his lessons on that topic.
I also agree that FWB or FB don’t usually go out in public (not even to a tennis game). But especially not to a wedding. That sealed the deal for me AND demonstrated the seriousness of their relationship.
I honestly think it’s *his* biological clock ticking, not so much hers (which I honestly know nothing about). In the UK there have been several recent articles about men’s fertility declining with age. So while men do produce sperm — it’s often not high enough in quality to get a women pregnant — especially after men are in their 40’s (one study cited the age of 43 for men’s huge decline in fertility). Obviously 43 is less than 5 years away for Benedict.
This is strictly a guess but I think they might have started dating at the beginning of 2014. If rumours started swirling as early as April — they would have need to go on at least a few dates over a period of time in which to feel okay with the labels gf or bf. So, I’d guess they started dating in the Jan/Feb/Mar time frame which makes their appearance in June a lot more solid if they’d been dating for several months (they would have passed the critical 3 month mark at that point). And they were friends prior which means they already like one another enough and know some quirks about the other too….often the best and strongest romances result from friendships.
*looks around*
Corner is pretty sparse tho! Only what, three of us here?!? Should we have tea then? 😊
Door swings both ways. It takes massive ego to believe your acting alone is good enough when there are so many talented actors out there. Firm believer in PR for that head above competition here. Only bothers me if the person is talent-less.
@Sixer
Hug gratefully accepted and you’re dead right. I had been thinking that a lot. If he’s so concerned with “the art” then do the work, feck off the rest of the time like DDL, instead I got shoe shop openings and finger banging in Elle.
I should have known better…… (than to cheat a friend)
LS- I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but I still think he was dating KB through probably April. They were seen together at way too many things during the first few months of the year. If I were Sophie and dating him at that point I would have a huge problem with him hanging out so much with someone else. Because if they were ‘just really good friends’ why haven’t we seen her since F1? I think KB got the boot in April and he started dating Sophie sometime after that.
*LadySlippers*
It is lovely celebrating the news with you here in the corner. I just made a big pot of Earl Grey; may I pour you a cuppa? I don’t think I know who our companion is (with the crowd of naysayers and all). Can you introduce us?
I agree, I think they were seeing each other before Hay Festival. Plenty of time for him to suss her out and for her to know the shit she was going to be dealing with if she’s stays with him.
•sigh((s))•
I am by no means wedded to my speculation! Lol
The upswing of friends dating is there often isn’t the same jealously seen in brand new relationships so maybe BC asked KB to be his red herring?!? Again, I don’t know.
BUT when RE added fuel to the fire of the secret gf rumours, they still would have needed some time for RE to be confident enough in their relationship to tell us to ‘move on’. To me, that indicates they probably knew then that both had found ‘the one’ which is partly why I think they were probably dating on the DL before the rumours even started. Total speculation on my part as always.
Thoughts?
😊
I don’t think I’m Lady #3, am I, LS? I’m not much a frequenter of Benny posts. He jumped the shark for me when he bounced, I’m afraid. Still, always up for tea! Lapsang souchong, anyone?
I was secretly hoping it was you, Sixer. Would still share a cuppa, if you’d like. I think we share some common ground when it comes to BangerFinger CumOnMyBaps.
The three in the corner I was referring to: me, MR, and An. But Sixer you are always welcome to join us in the corner! Lol
•MountainRunner•
I prefer Lady Grey but a weak Earl is fine too! (I don’t add anything to my tea lol).
•Sixer•
That works too!
*hands cup drained of Earl Grey for Sixer’s suggestion*
☺️
*LadySlippers*
What??? I’ve been swigging the weak stuff all this time? I like my tea high-octane. I guess it’s rather sexist of me to assume the ladies version is the delicate one.
*feeling tea-shamed*
Am I worthy of joining y’all in the corner?
@mountain runner
That’s weird, because I distinctly recall you saying how weird you thought the TIG premiere was too. I think you said it was done to generate gossip and I remember that because I agreed with it. So you definitely weren’t convinced at the point of James Rhodes’ wedding. Seems a bit churlish to be classing people who thought the same as you then as ‘naysayers’ now.
I’m also genuinely intrigued as to what you mean by ‘looking really good next to him’?
As for chemistry, chemistry isn’t about touching or PDA or anything like that. If you’re in the first flush of a relationship, you can’t help but have that buzz around you and make eye contact etc.. The tennis for example..nothing.
And as I said before, someone I know saw them at Hay when they were alone and she thought how disconnected they were so when these rumours first surfaced she discounted them entirely.
As for how long you think they’ve been dating. I don’t think anything started before late may as he was in Malaysia, Oz etc until late April then sprang off to nyc then Poland and Germany until late may.
*Nic*
You misunderstand me. I thought the handling of the TIG premier was weird because I believed they WERE a couple. If he wanted the relationship a secret, then putting her in front of the paps as she came out of the hotel was an odd thing to do imo. I don’t think it would have taken away from the movie to have walked the red carpet with her. Just my opinion. Wouldn’t have affected things much, outside of Tumblr melting down a bit.
I’m not sure how to explain that I think they look good next to each other. I saw the pics of them side by side in articles and the one at the wedding and thought they looked nice together. That’s all. It’s my opinion and not everyone shares it — that’s ok. I don’t take the negative approach to SH that others do.
With as self-conscious as he is about people noticing him, I’m not surprised that they might “act” like they aren’t romantically involved even if they are. I’ll be very curious how they come across in public now that the engagement has been announced. Could be quite different…
When they started dating is pure speculation on anyone’s part, so I won’t argue back and forth on that.
All that said, despite having pissed me off here and there as of late, I’m glad he’s engaged. I hope it’s the real deal and that they last. I think marriage and settling down into domestic life would be good for him.
Are some of the fans being mean-spirited or conspiracy minded, sure. I don’t think the majority of this board is of the twihard faction though.
I haven’t been following him that long. But when I did, I went back and watched past interviews. I like to objectively see someone instead of the blind worship. I’m a fair weathered fan, so sometimes I almost want to look for things about my latest crush to sabotage it, lol.
I found him to be friendly, down to earth, a little precious and pretentious, but still having a good heart. He also seems to be demonstrative with his affection and can’t seem to help himself on things. He swears too much, can be a bit inconsistent, but not really falling for the fame, just trying to navigate it.
Things seem to change though when this film started to come out and a shot at Oscar seemed a real possibility. He started to pander to fans much more, seemed to care about other people’s opinions so much more, he was definitely campaigning much more, and sometimes he acted like a brat. He became a man who cared too much about the opinions of others than just a man who said what he wanted.
I guess that is why the whole thing is so weird. He choose to hide a relationship, his choice, but still strange. I do see a shift in his choices. I don’t see that as having to do with fame as he has been dealing with that for a while thanks to Sherlock. I think it’s the Oscar talk that is messing with his brain. No matter how much they want to act above it, even posh British otters want it too.
•MountainRunner•
Don’t feel ashamed! I sometimes find Earl Grey to be very bitter whereas Lady Grey, not at all.
http://m.wisegeek.com/what-is-lady-grey-tea.htm
•Nic•
Chemistry doesn’t always translate on film or in pics. It can, and often does, but is never a guarantee.
People date and can be in a relationship while they travel and/or are apart. I’m not sure how or why that’s used as evidence of non-commitment or non-availability.
And if BC and SH started dating as late as May, as you suggest, why were we told to ‘move on’ as early as April? Using those particular words indicates a serious relationship because she could have easily said he was merely ‘smitten’ and/or ‘in love’ which don’t tell us much of anything about how serious the relationship is. Whereas, move on tells us quite a bit more.
In fact, your example in June suggests they might have been well past the ‘first flush’ of romance and were quite secure by then — which again indicates they’ve been dating longer than we know.
Just popping in, ladies, with some fresh pots of Lady Grey, Earl Grey, Lapsong, and some Moroccan mint tea for everyone, along with a tray of treats, including lemon bars, lavender shortbread, apricot thumbprints, and these addictive little cookies I made with bittersweet chocolate, cocoa, and cayenne cookies. Enjoy and carry on, ladies.
Does anyone need some sherry?
Some sherry would be lovely about now, Lilacflowers. And a biscuit or two as my blood sugar is seriously dropping due to the length of this engagement party.
Can I join, too!? I’ve got really good caramel covered popcorn and am willing to share!
You’re in. Grab a comfy couch and SETTLE down
😉
So he settled. Dating for less than a year, possibly 4-6 months, and he settles for her. An entitled rich girl whose friends are all snooty, hypenated-surname types.
The big 4-0 was haunting him and he settled. For this. I thought he was better than this. I thought he was more than that.
I realize I don’t know her, but my first thought on this news was, aww, I feel really bad for him. I actually feel sorry for him. It does seem like settling. (Yes, I don’t know him personally, it’s just the vibe I get).
THIS! My literal first impression: i feel so sad for him.
I don’t know anything about her. How do you know she’s an entittled rich girl? And it’s not like he’s some working class hero either.
No poor girl goes to Oxford then 2 years to Paris to some Ecole de pupeteers or whatevers and some acting school in NY. Then directs a couple of plays/operas in minor venues and acts a little all over the span of close to 10 years. I wouldnt even have the dough for the first one, let alone the rest.
While I cant comment on the “entitled” the rich does seem right and then they both seem right. Same circles, knew from before his super fame, comes from a similar background, is educated in the right posh places. On paper they look like a good fit and that is all we can comment on.
My own parents got married after knowing each other for 5 months but they where not rich and famous. Just stupid and in the end lucky as they are still very much together.
She’s admitted in the past she gets hand outs from mummy and daddy. People like her always seems to play at a life because there’s not the imperative to make a living. They often call themselves ‘writers and musicians, artists etc’ They don’t necessarily have any success in that particular field but it doesn’t matter because they’ve got a ton of cash to fall back on. She has a Cv of projects but they’re small scale and fairly fringe, so they might be appalling.
I don’t know what kind of director she is but I don’t hold out much hope for her skills when she doesn’t seem capable of recognising the fact she can’t act herself.
BC is definitely not coming up from hardscrabble roots, but he does seem to have a work ethic and builds a career, while SH’s cv is a lot of dabbling or lackluster projects and her acting is, demonstrably, mediocre to bad, as are her attention-grabbing stunts (Oh, here’s a thought–this is a performance art piece, lol!)
“… But I don’t hold out much hope for her skills when she doesn’t seem capable of recognizing the fact she can’t act herself.”
Dying at this comment. SoFail Hunter is a shite actress. Watch her in the short where she plays a mime player flailing about on the grass. Hilarity bound to ensue… or disgust.
She’s directed stuff at 11 venues or so since 2007 and worked as permanent staff for an NYC theater from 2011 to early this year, none of it is on her CV though. I honestly think she takes whatever jobs she can get, but I don’t have an issue with her either (full disclosure: all I can care is that she’s not inappropriately young).
I don’t think being born with money is her fault. She’s lucky and harmless. Get it together ladies.
Who’s talking about ‘fault’. We’re discussing how she can sustain her lifestyle based on relatively little work and she’s hand outs from her parents. That’s just the truth. I live in Berkshire and that’s a ton of rich people here who send their ungrateful kids to the best schools and classes and they learn every instrument and language and they live in notting hill and call themselves artists. If they had no money, they’d be called ‘scroungers and bums’
It drives me nuts.
Is Benewaffle himself not an entitled rich boy?
Borderline. Went to boarding school but mum worked her arse off to pay for it. Having been in a similar position, I can tell you you feel the class. The people looking down on you for not being as rich as them.
I think his parents worked like hell to afford that for him. Also, I think there was some money from his father’s side for primary school?
Privileged indeed.
@Mazza: His father’s side is well-off and not quite in the landed gentry level of things but has a long line of well-to-do and “prominent citizens” in their ranks. His father’s mother paid for him to attend Brambletye and Harrow but his parents certainly busted their asses for work and also to put in what they could for him.
It must be true love, for she looks a heck of a lot like a brunette version of his mum (Wanda Ventham) when she was younger. Spooky!
Um. No she doesn’t.
*insert expletives here*
You are effing right!! O_O She really looks like his mom when she was younger! Now if she goes blond the transformation would be complete. Hello Sigi Freud, I always thought you where an idiot but I take it back!
yeah if you’re blind
She couldn’t look less like wanda ventham.
Here’s a write up on her by the DM.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2821784/As-Benedict-Cumberbatch-announces-engagement-nation-s-females-weep-introduce-Sophie-Hunter-woman-captured-Sherlock-s-heart.html
Who writes this stuff. Do they not live in London? Hammersmith is NOT South London DM it’s West London.. dohhh
•AG•
Tom Sykes has a decent write-up on SH (very detailed) — no geographical errors that I can see! Lol
Is it trying to look for a serious relationship as you get older a bad thing? For men is it a bit later when they really feel they need to settle down and have kids and Benedict is even older than most but it does not mean the relationship is not real. Benedict has seemed more career oriented type to me than somebody who would never get married and have kids. I hope they are happy.
You don’t know her. You don’t know him (you know that right?)
Comments like this and all the other delusional people on here are batshit. You know you people aren’t aquainted to Benedict Cumberbatch in real life, right? That you don’t know him? Or his fiancee? If not, you need to figure that out and get some therapy.
I like that they announced it in the paper, apparently that’s what his parents wanted to do. It’s sweet and traditional.
Congrats to them! (Off to get popcorn to watch the cumberbitches freak out) 🙂
•L•
It is sweet isn’t it?
Wanda must be so excited to have Cumberbabies on the horizon. I bet she is just beside herself with glee, knitting booties and making an owl-themed blankie for her little otter grandbaby-to-be… 🙂
•MountainRunner•
I’m guessing both Wanda and Tim are thrilled beyond words. They sound like such a close, tight-knit family — perfect for children to grow up in. 😊
*LadySlippers*
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they announce soon that she’s preggers (making sure he can get one past the ol’ goalie). I recall that was the order of things with Wanda and Tim…
•MountainRunner•
Wanda was actually six months along when she finally said ‘I do’ because her first marriage scared her enough she wasn’t sure she wanted to attempt a round two. Tim apparently had asked her for quite some time before that.
I do think they’ll get married in short order and try for a family (if they aren’t already) because tick-tock says Benedict’s clock. 😉
*LadySlippers*
My bets are on a short engagement ( >3 mos) and baby not long after. 2015 is shaping up to be a BIG YEAR for Cumby if my predictions are spot on.
After checking out that Lady Grey link, I’m thinking I want to try it iced sometime.
quite adorable
Even more adorable is the fact CumberCupcake has already created a congrats cupcake!!!! 😊
http://sodelightfully.tumblr.com/post/101835423873/cumbercupcake-congrats-benedict-and-sophie
And multiple epic meltdowns begins in 3..2..1…
It’s going to be otter annihilation.
Lol. You are queen of the otter jokes, Abbott. keep ’em coming…
Hello, Oscar Campaign. Well played, BT Cumberbatch. Well played.
Heh. You think it’s an engagement for real and it’s just well timed or you think it’s fake purely for the Oscars?
+1
No need to scream “BUT I’M STRAIGHT!!!!” anymore.
The things you do for an Oscar :).
I’m rather in that boat myself with this “news” but I’ve apparently been wrong before, lol.
@Freebunny: I legit thought that lol.
How would that work though? Would he see it through to marriage?
My personal theory, lol, and keeping in mind I’m not going to tumblr flail about this and it’s just me reacting to the wtfery: Nah. A low-key, sad split in March, they just want different things, yada yada yada, still be great friends, etc. A tasteful announcement after she’s not at some awards show with him, and that’s it.
@Nic If La Clooney can do it, so can La Batch.
BTW, there were rumors flying years ago about a certain handsome Welsh actor, who too, was the Brit flavor of the year and who was allegedly as gay as a goose who also got married off to a close female friend. Unfortunately for said handsome Welsh actor, his star did not keep an up-and-up trajectory as was so predicted (big comic book movie but then nothing) so maybe the marriage was all for nought?
I could (just about) see a fake relationship as part of an Oscars campaign but a fake engagement, complete with an announcement in the Times seems a step waaaay too far. I think 1. she is knocked up or 2. we could be looking at a very long engagement
Green eyes, I think I knew the handsome. Welsh actor (HWA) you mean ( and it ain’t Rhys Ifans tho I think he’s cute). Said HWA is actually the step son in law of a previous friend of mine ( I moved and we lost touch). She married father in law of HWA. Wife of HWA who if we are thinking of same person is pretty English actress of no great talent who appeared in a film with a spotty dog theme. After all that…no light to shed on the gay rumours, he is in a daft US TV series at the moment and is still handsome.
Who is this HWA? David Tennant?
Rhys Ifans is kind of cute, I agree,
Hmm, really? Never heard those rumors but he is gorgeous. Assume you mean IG?
@Ripley exactly what I came here to say to
@Claire why not after all people accuse Brad and Angelina of the same thing! Getting married for the oscars why not Benedict
Am just going to watch from the corners for the melt down here.
yeeah but there was never weird secrecy and lack of chemistry with B and A
Exactly. They were public enough with their relationship that it was never a secret, even when he was still married to Anniston, and they have always been private but not secret.
You’ve got it sigh((s))… Mr tennant is scots btw Tara…
My condolences Kaiser.
🙂
*Sits back, watches Tumblr burn*
Oh my god, tumblr is going to be amazing….!! Well that puts paid to me accomplishing anything at work tomorrow 🙂
Yaasss… set phasers to stun!(ning)
Tumblr is not breaking down yet. They seem happy about the news. I’m uncomfortable.
Guess how many of those “oh I am sooo happy for him” are sobbing into their pillows as we speak?
I respect honesty more and if someone is saying she is “sad” I rather hand over my last cookie to her than to someone jumping around in fake happiness. They get a box of xanax instead.
Can’t wait for the awkward red carpet where they’ll look like two dead fishes wondering what they should do to look like a real couple in love, but congrats anyway.
Ha
We won’t have to wait long to see the red carpets. 🙂
well played, sir…well played:)
*Grabs popcorn*… 😉
I’m honestly more annoyed with how the media will handle the “cumberb**** move on” crap. But at least now I can probably see Hamlet more than once.
Aww this is what he’s always wanted. Marriage! Babies!
I can’t believe you didn’t repost that adorable picture of him holding his friend’s baby!
Have the pic?
I got your back, LadySlippers.
http://www.celebitchy.com/260562/benedict_cumberbatch_holding_a_friends_baby_the_best_thing_ever/
•Abbott•
Those are kinda old. I was hoping for a new one! Lol
But thank you my dear!
That’s the one! He’s so cute. Thank you, Abbott. That image looks so much like a popular pic online of an otter holding up its baby- cracks me up.
That’s assuming Sophie wants kids, too. Just because he’s talked about it doesn’t mean she’s down with it. My sister and her DH are constantly at odds over that, as are many couples. Lots of people marry or get into LTRs and have wildly different desires when it comes to kids and it’s always a bone of contention.
I love you, MissMary. You always see both sides of the glass. I honestly don’t mind at this point since I have bills to pay but he is an interesting and weird man with his public persona.
I read someone on IMDB saying (I’m paraphrasing) at least he’s getting married and not like some colleagues having kids, being together years but not getting married..
Eh since when does one equal the other?? Marriage doesn’t equal kids and vice versa.
Oops, you’re right.
I did assume that he would make sure they wanted the same things before making what is (theoretically) a lifetime commitment. He’s mentioned many times that he wants kids, to be a father- have a family. (I believe him and don’t think he’s just saying that for PR)
I’m a commitmentphobe so, the idea of jumping in and assuming I can change their mind/ get my way later on FREAKS me out and would never even dawn on me!
Maybe they are on the same page, but it’s not certain. Hell, some celeb couples have split over it like non-celeb ones. I’m dating myself here but back in the day when Rebecca Romijin and John Stamos were the big, loved up, adorable, popular couple, they ended up divorcing because, as he said publicly, he wanted kids and she didn’t. Ironically, she now has twins with her current husband but at the time, she and her then-husband were not on the same page. It does happen and sometimes you get with someone thinking they’ll change their minds, or you think you’re on the same page but you or your partner goes “Wait, I’ve been giving this some thought and kids aren’t a thing I want after all”.
Um, the idea of Sophie of being a parent doesn’t sound too good. If she is only half as cold and distant as she appears in photos, well then, I pity the poor child/ren. But isn’t that the way most upper class English mothers are? Popping out babies for others to take care of and then send to boarding school? After all, she’s going to be terribly busy attending all those fashion shows, shoe store openings and opening night galas!
Congrats…cute couple!! Much happiness!
Happy for him, congrats Benny Boo 🙂
Next up: Puddletom marries Jane Arthy.
After that: Sixer gives Mr Sixer the heave ho after a proposal from The Bloke – he only had to see me once and it was game over. (I forget – is The Bloke actually married or does he use wife as a synonym for ‘er indoors? I can’t remember how that turned out).
At some point in the distant future: Prince George gets it on with Benny the Bouncer’s firstborn. A girl. I would say that he calls her Frogmella, but that’s the wrong end of the social spectrum and probably a British TV reference too far for my lovely American friends.
I dont know what Frogmella is, but I love it.
@sighs
It’s exotic!
Or that’s what Wayne and Waynetta Slob (characters from a comedy show) said when they called their firstborn daughter Frogmella. The other kids were Spudulika and Canoe (Canoe is Wayne’s effort to pronounce Keanu, as in Reeves). Canoe was a love child, from Wayne’s “affair” with Naomi Campbell.
There!
Excellent, Sixer! My bf stills calls Keanu Canoe. Also, I’m fairly positive The Bloke is indeed officially hitched.
And we will be scraping the exploded remains of Tumblr from our windows for many days to come. Puddletom is next!
I was watching Brian Cox’s latest science series last night and there was a segment talking about a Berber marriage festival. They go off from their tiny villages to a big, week-long festival and all the girls and boys try to find a suitable spouse (a way to keep the gene pool healthy and varied).
This Benny news makes me want a Celebitchy marriage festival. We can marry them all off (preferably to funny partners) in our imaginations!
I always liked the scenario where all the guys from one totem marry all the girls in the next totem and they let the f*cks fall where they may. Let sperm competition do the rest.
Ha.
Long live the Man
Long live the Woman
Who use both courage and compassion
Long live their children.
As Adrian Mitchell would say.
Frogmella Bouncer Hunter-Cumberbatch. Quite fitting.
Sorry, Sixer, but I do believe the Bloke is married. But again, one glance and he could leave her for you.
When you say “fitting”…
… I get some very un-PC puns rushing into my head. It’s a trouble stopping them rushing to my typing fingers.
Does marriage make celebrity crushes off limits, do you think? It’s never really much on my radar, their uxorial status. I mean, and as you say, it’s not as though any of them would actually resist my cap, should I choose to set it at them, is it? Surely not?!
Marriage does not make celebrity crushes off limits.
And let the girlfriend bashing commence. The meltdowns are going to be amazing
If she was a cool chick and everything they’ve done in the past 6 months hadn’t been shrouded in weirdness I think we’d all be happy for him.
What you said.
Thank you!
I’m sure you could substitute her with any woman and you guys would claim she’s not good enough for him. But I don’t have a dog in this fight.
Y’know. The ‘y’all just jelly’ tone, really gets on my tits. Why when people have anything less than glowing sycophantic praise are they accused of that?
I don’t buy the “oh, we’d be pissed about any woman” thing… I’m willing to bet if he popped up engaged to Olivia (I know, I Know), or Lupita, or, you know, anyone who doesn’t come off as snotty, cold, and rude…we’d be much less picky about the whole thing. I’m sure some folks would be bummed out but at the same time, it’d be less “UGH her?”
Any woman he’s ever been photographed with has been shredded by some fans. So, this is no different really. And I’m speaking in general before anyone jumps on me.
I agree with MissMary.
It would be easy to be very happy for them if just one picture of them together showed they were even slightly pleased to be in each others company. Or maybe even just acknowledged each others company while in the same frame.
It’s as if one or the other of them is afraid of bursting into flames if they actually make eye contact with each other.
Kind of like some sort of bad experimental theater.
Sad really.
Didn’t someone offer cookies to people who were willing to admit they were sad about it? I’d like a cookie 😉
@ Dakota M.
That was me with the cookies. *hands over some cookies!!”
yeah… i don’t really understand the high level of seemingly personal investment that women have in this dude (or any other celebrity). he’s some guy, living his life, having a girlfriend, getting married. why be upset about it? do people think that if it wasn’t this woman, it would be them marrying him? no, it wouldn’t. i mean, when you’re 12-14, maybe you think that you will “marry” you celebrity crush. but that’s a phase that should pass. or, maybe i’m tool old to understand celebrity obsessions. 🙂
This is celebitchy. There going to be pointless discussions about the lives of people we don’t know. I truly doubt whether many people on here are letting this consume their existence. It’s just a way of killing time. And wasting it.
i’m all for killing/wasting time with pointless discussions about celebrities. i was remarking on something different – people actually being upset about him having a girlfriend, and now being engaged.
Where’s the evidence for anyone being ‘upset with him for being engaged or having a gf’ on here?
@Nic, hear, hear!
This is the modern form of standing around the fence and gossiping about the neighbors down the street. None of us have any stake in this issue, but, hey, it offers amusement and it’s fun!
THIS. I may talk about this on here but IRL…not even on the radar when I chat with friends and family in meatspace. What he does or doesn’t do in private? It’s not gonna change my mortgage, lol, and I’m still gonna have responsibilities. It’s a nice escape though and I may get snarfy about some things but in the end, *shrug* It’s gossip, not rocket surgery.
All the conspiracy theories sound very twihardy to me. LOL
Ag, just out of curiosity, what do you think of the ordinary citizen who breaks down over the death of a celebrity? I’ll never forget being 16 and watching my girlfriend literally in absolute hysterics because Elvis had died. Her mother had to call the doctor to her house. I just did not understand her reaction. Fast forward 15 or so years, and I, out of the blue, completely lost it when Diana died. I didn’t know her but her death was shocking to me for some reason. I mostly felt sorry for her boys.
@Lady D – celebrity deaths are for me in a somewhat different category. i mean, a lot of people, myself included, were affected when robin williams died recently. i was surprised by the fact that it made me sad. on the other hand, he was someone with whose work i have been familiar most of my life. but an actor getting engaged or whatever… i guess i don’t understand true fandom.
@Nic, in a previous response to you (which wasn’t posted or was deleted), i said that i made a general comment that didn’t necessarily apply to this site. looking up and down this thread, i stand corrected. plenty of people here appear upset and appear to be taking the news of BC’s engagement personally.
Commiserations ladies (and gentlemen)!
Um… I hate to push my own agenda in your time of great mourning, but… how about a new article on A Skarsgard?? Wouldn’t that cheer everyone up?! Seriously, it’s been MONTHS since I heard anything on my future husband! And he’s still single, right? RIGHT? That’s all I need to know – don’t give a crap if he’s done anything newsworthy. Naked pics would obviously help too…
The next Tarzan? Shirtless, loin cloth, swinging through vines Skarsgard. Okay?
I like BC as an actor and should be happy for him at this news, but this is a blah and disappointing choice. Snooty, pretentious, lackluster career, horrendous acting skills, gets her tits out for two-bit TV roles and cringeworthy music videos, zero fashion sense and looks plain as stale bread… UTTERLY MEDIOCRE.
THIS! I agree with everything save mediocre…she’s terrible! He could have had a talented woman, one who worked hard and wasn’t entitled or privileged. Very disappointing. As I said above, I think he settled. He got too freaked out about being childless into his 40s. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite him.
If that’s why he got engaged it’ll come bite him on the ass by spring.
I agree.
I’be got a bad feeling about all of this to be honest.
He looks miserable, she looks smug and neither look in love!
Odd behavior for any couple.
Now she’s getting married she’s OTTERLY terrible! (Totally stole that joke. Thanks whomever did it first)
I didn’t know reptiles were allowed to marry. Good for him!
I heard David Icke is going to officiate the wedding.
But she’s perfect you guys! Rich, right background, snooty, age appropriate, getting to the point where it’s now or never to have babies. Perfect!
I got married after 3 months, and am still happy 9 years later, so who am I to judge? I like the low-key newspaper announcement. I am not a fan of the huge spectacle. Like- what are you trying to prove if you need all of that. Of course, the wedding itself could be insane, so maybe I’m speaking too soon. And while I like the style of the announcement, I am just cynical enough to question the timing.
Well I hope you’re right. It would be sad if she was his ‘great love’.
How is an announcement in a national newspaper ‘low key’?
THIS! people saying it’s nice…yeah it is I suppose but it’s a very public announcement from someone who has always claimed he wants his private life private.
Its the TIMES for gods sake, and it whacks of Society wedding
It seems like what he’s always wanted…to officially be part of the upper crust, big society wedding with the right sort of people…
Apparently, his parents wanted the announcement, but I’m not from the UK so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I see it here all the time: you can run the announcement the engagement or the marriage, just usually not both.
If he wanted to marry into the upper crust, Sophie Hunter is not the ticket (?) She’s middle class like him.
I thought it was mandatory (Banns)?
Banns are different to The Times though aren’t they?
Otherwise every wedding in area would have to be announced there?
I was under the impression that Times wedding announcements were very much a status thing but I could be way off.
Oh, yeah, OhDear, I forget he’s Christian. Don’t know though.
I don’t know, Lindy79. I live in NY and it’s common here but sometimes fancier, with photos. Usually if you do the engagement one then you don’t have to do the wedding one.
An announcement in The Times is a posh person thing.
OhDear – banns are read as a legal requirement if you get married in a Church of England church. That’s an established religion thing. Church of England vicars can act as state registrars. If you get married in a register office (equivalent of US city hall) you don’t need any banns. If you get married in another venue or at a different religion’s place of worship you also won’t need any banns – you’ll either have to have a second civil ceremony at the register office or pay for a government registrar to come to the ceremony.
And banns and announcements are different things: banns are read out in 3 preceding CofE services to when the marriage takes place as a legal requirement. Announcements, I should imagine, are the same as the US: some do it, some don’t. Posh people here do it in The Times.
Thanks, Sixer! I learned something today. I also completely missed his parents are who wanted the announcement 😀
Thanks Sixer! Didn’t realize that banns were religious.
There’s nothing low-key about that announcement imo. Quite the contrary actually.
As for marrying soon after you got acquainted with your future significant other – I got married 5 months after meeting my husband and am also happily married 9 years later ^_^ However, we were virtually inseparable during those 5 months and became very-very close. I wonder if the same can be said about Cumberbatch and Hunter. Perhaps the fact that they’ve known each other for years prior to actually becoming a couple helped them a lot.
Married after 5 months? I think you’re brave! If my boyfriend proposed to me now, I think I would have a hard time trying not to take flight LOL
Cumby’s known Sophie at least 5 years and I suspect he’s been spending a lot of time with her for the past 6 months. That’s more than enough time for each of them to determine if they want to marry. I knew my huz for only 6 months when we got engaged and nearly 10 years and two kids later, we’re still going strong. Being older and having more life experience helps to shorten the time needed to make those kind of major life choices, I think.
The meltdowns here are cracking me up — I’m sure I’d be amused at Tumblr too if I looked. I hope that after awards season is over, they settle into a low-key kind of life (like McAvoy-Duff) and that he’s not attending every friggin’ publicity event possible. “Living well is the best revenge” — I hope that they can prove the naysayers wrong over time.
True story: Her coat in that last picture has the exact same pattern as the rug in my lounge.
Sorry to hear this – it doesn’t bode well for my hope that Sophie will rid Benny of his little hats.
Say what?
No shade on your carpet (is that a giraffe print?). Benny has bad taste in hats.
Rid Benny of his Silly Hats? Why, he wore one on his first public date with her! And she probably bought it for him. I smell fashion disaster for this twosome!
And who doesn’t think that in 10 years time (IF they are still together) they will be THAT COUPLE. You know what I mean: they travel the world staying with posh friends at their posh friends’ vacation homes, never reciprocating because they are too poor to have a vacation home. And all the while bickering and complaining loudly.
@Greeneyes – that’s right – it was the French Open, IIRC. One can only conclude that IF she bought him the thumb hat and he wore it, it must be love. 🎩
I misread that as “rug in my tongue”. 😀
@Mimif – LMFAO – all sorts of CumbyCurls/naughty bits just flashed before my eyes. Lord, help me.
Congrats to them, and I do hope that if it’s a “real thing”, they’ll be happy together!
However, my 2 cents:
1. This whole secret dating-come-engagement has been handled quite ungracefully; and
2. I have a feeling that it’s a part of his PR game (although not necessarily a fake publicity engagement, just the timing of the announcement). If I am right, then I do hope that it’s done more for the sake of keeping tongues wagging than for the sake of showing that, although Cumberbatch is playing a homosexual, he’s actually a heteronormatively married man lol.
I agree. If there has ever been a PR announcement extreme, this has got to be it. I like him, so I really wish this wasn’t done in his Oscar baity time, but here we go. Tacky as hell.
Also, I don’t understand people publishing their engagements in major newspapers. I know I’ve seen that in films that take place in 19th and early 20th century but I didn’t know anyone does that in real life of 21st century. If the couple splits, do they publish that as well?
Intro Outro- I really wasn’t bothered but I didn’t feel they were really hiding.
However, I’ll one-up you and wonder if the lag is due to 2. It’s possible they were concerned people would think 2 and were trying to circumvent it but gave up if he’s planning on taking her on red carpets. He’s had gay rumors around him before and never bothered to dissuade them, even when Oscar talk bloomed (ie. before TFE’s release last year).
This is just lies. Lies, I tell you. Next they’ll be trying to tell us that Madonna had an affair with JFK Jr.
lallallaaalallla I can’t hear you!
My goodness CeleBITCHY is living up to its name on this thread!
Indeed!
Sophie Hunter looks like Sophie Marceau. That’s all I got. I don’t have a thing for Cumby.
She does!
I agree.
I saw Sophie Marceau / Dakota Johnson
Kaiser that’s all you have to say?!?! Lol Okay okay You’re all probably still processing. *sigh* Well, its been fun riding on Benedicks, I mean all this hoopla about him has been very entertaining from his career, to interviews, and speculation about his personal life…I knew it will end eventually, I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. 🙁 I’m gonna be honest about my feelings and say that I’m very sad right now, but at the same time kind of relieved. Now that he is engaged, I can finally go back to the real world…*Phew!*
And to quote Rebecca Eaton “It’s time to move on!”
(Step 1.) Goes through computer files and starts deleting all pictures of Benedict from the hard drive….
Rebecca Eaton was not aware of SH and I’d bet my house she didn’t know about her. Nobody even knows what she said.
Too funny! I was thinking the same thing this morning!
Yay! Congratulations! I like this match – it is almost annoyingly appropriate and makes Cumby look like a normal person, which I presume he kind of was before all the success and media hype. This is probably what he very much needs right now, and kind of explains the (very) short walk to the altar these two are taking.
That sounds ..very unromantic.
Well, kind of took it for granted that these two are in love 😉 Simply tried to figure out some underlying issues.
Mylittlepony
Did I miss something?
I thought they’d announced an engagement. Not a wedding.
You can have the first without necessarily having the second. And vice versa.
Bad feeling about the whole thing.
Nope, it is “just” an engagement, but in my experience such announcements in this paper are quite a serious business and usually mean getting married within a year or so, but of course anything can happen.
Ditto Kazlock. Something about this whole thing just makes me side-eye him a bit. Call me a cynic but this just screams PR to me.
Most outlets are saying “No date has been announced” so no, no wedding, “just” a (sketchy-feeling) engagement.
Who is the man with her in the pictures? Does anyone know? Did she dump him for a more advantageous relationship with Cumby?
•Elise•
Ouch.
No that was her boyfriend then, they’ve apparently been broken up for some time now (per the DM article I posted).
She was apparently dating some upper class twat named Richmond-Watson as late as April, was photographed in Florida together. Not the Asian guy.
Don’t say you think all upper class people, or people with double-barrelled surnames are twits?
Not all but a large enough portion. Plus, look at all her friends. Walks like a duck, talks like a duck…
I don’t care who she is or what she’s done. I was never one of these who felt he should be with some magical accomplished princess whose won awards for her fabulouness.
But…something about this just sits weird with me, mainly the PR handling of it since they first went public about it at the French Open,k it flies in the face of everything he claims he is. If that makes me a bitchy begrudger then so be it.
Yeah, I never understood the need to pair him with the most intelligent, perfect, decent woman on earth. If he loves her and they’re compatible, then great. Maybe that’s what perfection looks like when Benedict Cumberbatch looks for a girlfriend/wife.
+10
Yeah really weird. Who knows, we could be wrong. My only concern is he’s rushing into this and is gonna be miserable a few years from now, regretting this moment in his life.
He can always get a divorce – although he might not if they have children. Let’s all hope for the best and believe he really did think this through and absolutely adores her 🙂 I wish them all the best and I love the fact he didn’t end up with a 20 year old reality-tv show wannabe model/actress/star.
he really is Christopher Tietjens
68 comments at 8am LMAOOOOOO!!!!!
Congrats to them both! I hope they’re happy together and she gets some breathing room when the Internet collapses and throws vitriol at her. Do not blame him for keeping her in the sidelines. I would have run a mile.
Oh c’mon. Please don’t give the ‘poor girl’ speech. Who cares what a few corners of the Internet has to say about anything? Nobody is approaching her in tesco to say it so it really doesn’t matter. And the hyperbole there is a bit much. Largely there’s just differing opinions with very little outright baseless nastiness. As for ‘keeping her on the sidelines’ I don’t think he’s been ‘keeping her’ anywhere. I imagine she has a mind and a brain to the point where she doesn’t need to be protected by anyone. Also, she has hardly been hidden away anyway has she? I’ve said it several times, but her red carpet behaviour and arrival was quite the precise and obvious arrangement. She has not been low key.
Why do you take all this so personally?
What? Who says I’m taking it personally? I’m offering my opinion the same as everyone else.
@Nic – I don’t think anyone but a lunatic would even approach her. But calling her mediocre? That seems rough. Perhaps because I am not an “active” fan I have no idea what you mean about the red carpet behaviour. I didn’t even watch the red carpet interviews or stream. What I meant is that she could have been all over the place, attending events as his public +1. Now they’re engaged she might do just that. But, again, this might be because I have not been following this “story” closely and missed her behaviour with paps and media. My bad.
Pardon me while I laugh my ass off at the mental image of that woman shopping at Tesco……Bwahhahahahaha!!!!!
Personally, as long as she is not with him at the Oscars and has nothing to do with Hamlet, I’m good.
Why would a rich supposedly entitled snob like her shop at Tescos? :p
“Tescos? Is that a new Italian place?”
More of a Waitrose girl I would think…
So this is real? I’m waiting for the punchline.
Cumberbuddy posted a tweet from James Rhodes-“glorious when close friends fall in love and decide to marry”. Having seen the same scenario up close with friends and family, I will tell you it’s true. And don’t forget they share the same circle of friends-his best friend is married to her best friend. Don’t get me wrong-i saw this online 5 minutes after the first post and I still have the rock in the pit of my stomach. But I truly believe that it’s right for them. (I’ll send more reasons why when I sober up from the massive bender I’m going on).
How do you know eloise fornieles is her best friend? They were pictured together once. Besides, EF isn’t with David birkin anymore. She’s dating polly Stenham.
yeah that’s news to me too, want to see actual proof. And James seems to cool a guy to hang out with someone like her, and his wife seems cool and down to earth too. Not the kind to be friends with ms. wanna be society art girl.
JR and his wife hardly move in the same circles as SH does/aspires to do–despite their friendship with BC, JR and Hattie aren’t SH’s “kind of people” based on all we’ve seen of SH.
aaaawww cheer up anon 🙂
WELL, this is a surprise, *not. Congratulations Benedict and Sophie. An invite to the wedding will be appreciated, I can be Tommy’s date and I will let him dance with you, rather than me. [for one song]
in the meantime, I do wonder while he was jet-setting around the world, promoting this and that and hugging huskies for the first six months of this year and a lot of having fun and she wasn’t anywhere in sight. What were they doing? They didn’t even spend last Christmas together? weird.
It’s highly dubious they were together last Christmas. Making this all the more weird and probably a rash decision on his part.
By all accounts they’ve been dating since May/June at most but in fairness have known each other a few years.
Quick thought-maybe they announced the engagement so she could actually be seen with him? LOL Back to Jimmy B now.
I’m not convinced this is real. Yes, I know this conspiracy on my part, but the secret gf stuff didn’t really start hitting until the Oscar buzz came up. Every picture together with them, they are never smiling or looking at each other. What celebrity, a private one at that, announces via the papers or at all? Now, the weird thing is a lot of papers, you can literally take out anything in there with no proof, it’s been done, I know people who have. It could be a fan trolling.
Hypotheticalically, if this is the real deal, and he is really is engaged. Congrats, but I don’t see this engagement lasting until the wedding. I don’t know Benedict personally, but this seems incredibly out of character. If it’s true, I imagine he will be asked in an interview, and he’ll respond, then people will know for sure.
I’m a fan of his work, I think he’s a fantastic actor, and it’d be great if he’d cleared the air from he’s own mouth, that way we can get back to his acting talk.
.
^^This.
*his. Autocorrect.
Come on! I am pretty sure the freakin’ Times would check, and Karon announced it too. No fan trolling here.
I skimmed the article, congrats to them, and best wishes. Still an interesting way to announce an engagement for someone in the public eye.
•Icarus•
The secret gf rumours started as early as late spring (April or May?).
@LadySlippers. It didn’t start really hitting until a bit after that. That it started really picking up steam. People start campaigning a early as a year before Oscars pickup. Can’t wait for their first red carpet photo.
•Arch•
I disagree as if you start media coverage/campaigning too early you also PEAK too early. That’s been shown time and time again — that an early favourite peaked way too early and missed out on any award.
The secret gf started early and stayed kinda quiet until the rumours steadily picked up steam. I honestly think this is more tied to his biological clock ticking. It’s been prominently featured in British papers that men’s fertility takes the same dramatic plunge as women’s do at 40. So it’s tick-tock time in BC’s world.
I agree with you. I think he wants to be married and have kids before his 40’s, and has found a woman whom he feels would be a good match for him. Best of luck to them!
So, I just don’t get it. Why hide the fact that you are dating, if it was serious. BC isn’t *that* famous, surely? Their whole relationship (all 4-6mths of it) makes no sense to me at all. I hate to jump on the conspiracy bandwagon but my first 2 thoughts were Oscar and Pregnant. And I keep reading how his reps have confirmed it, do they say the same thing to every publication that call them, because it is the same exact words in every pub (the ones that are saying its confirmed mind you) because I am still reading that its *hasn’t* been confirmed. The next question is will she be in the US with him for the premiere? I just can’t seem to wrap my head around any of this, honestly. It just doesn’t sit well with me. Hmm…
I’m with you, I don’t want to doubt it, but like you said it sounds fishy. A lot of male celebs tend to get engaged before Oscar season is picking up. Or she’s pregnant, if they’re happy, congrats.
Yes Icarus, if they are pregnant, then I hope they are happy and its not an oops baby. I just hope this doesn’t bite him on the arse.
Do a lot of male celebs really get engaged in oscar season? do they end up going through with it typically?
@CLaire: if not engaged, then they go public with “serious relationships” and a lot of “I’m a respectable grown man who can maintain a serious relationship” talk.
*cough*Eddie Remayne*cough* (or whatever his name is)
They weren’t hiding it (I know people are sick of me noting this, sorry!). They just didn’t publicly announce it. You usually don’t announce you’re dating someone, and it was only a big deal to fans who follow him closely.
When most of say “hiding” it, we are referring to the fact he’s been open but *private* with all of his relationships, even the super casual ones, until SH. He would at least arrive at events with his dates and not send them ahead, or in a different car.
An, but they *did* go out of their way not to be photographed together as late as 2 weeks ago. They arrived separately to that dinner in London and old Benny Boy marched on in ahead of her, she was alone in the car.
There is keeping it low-key and then acting like you barely know one another.
I thought no one could figure out if they came together and it turned out he was coming from a set, so they probably didn’t come together and that’s why there’s no pics of them in the car? So much of all this was based on conjecture that I gave up trying to figure it out.
The FO and Hay were out in the open enough, but that’s just for me personally. Although if she was the one who didn’t want to be bothered, I wouldn’t be surprised. She’ll have to get used to it.
I read his publicist confirmed it to People
I read that too Claire, but the wording is the exact same wording that Sky News, BBC and BuzzFeed used. Exact same wording that Daily Mail used. And all those pubs said that the rep confirmed directly to them. So that was why I asked if the exact same working would be used when every publication contacted them. Not being in PR, I dont know.
MissLouLou-it is standard practice to use the same wording to confirm a project/personal matter.
What M.A.F. said. But in this specific case, I’m pretty sure Sky News got the original quote and everyone else is just quoting Sky.
What’s amusing (to me at least) is that you can see the link between the quality of various publications and the way they cite the quote. Sky is the only one I saw directly claiming they spoke to a publicist. The high-quality legitimate news sites, like BBC, cite Sky as the source. The less-good news sites cite the wrong source (e.g., I saw more than one citing Telegraph). Most of the gossip sites dodge proper referencing altogether and simply say “BC’s publicist said” (while never claiming it was said to THEM.)
That kind of thing is one reason I like CB. They at least try to link back to a source.
But I was just jumping into the Benedict wagon!
YES. There was a phrase I was looking for in regards to this whole thing. Thanks Icarus.
Out of character.
This is just not in character for him at all. And by that I mean his actual character, not the one he puts on in his ascent into stardom.
Like I said before…I think he’ll come to regret this big time. I hope he wakes up before the aisle, and certainly before the kids.
Most welcome and agreed.
Whenever I see a couple get engaged after only a short amount of time being together I immediately think “she’s pregnant”. Hope it’s not just a shotgun engagement. Congrats to Ben and Sophie!
I am with you on that. 5-6 months of dating and a engagement announcement in the times? I feel like going to the next betting local and putting money on her being pregnant but this is not the 19th century. Just because you are preggers you do not need to get married. Theories, loads of theories 😀
But I have to think of Tom Mison here. He got actually married and nobody knew a thing. That is being low key. Announcing it in The Times is not.
Ichabod, erm, I mean Tom, is much more low key than BC though. He doesn’t go to the openings of shoe stores either. I don’t know. I still like BC, he’s a good egg, but I prefer Mison’s demeanor atm. Benedict is very out there – very ambitious and gregarious, it’s one of his charms, but it got old for me after ‘watching’ him a few years. Not his fault. As far as British actors go I just now prefer me some ‘Ichabod’. Superior Tom to me too, no big fandoms or Tumblr storms. *Sips Earl Grey*
Misslou-I think it’s pretty confirmed with james tweeting about it. At least we know now and it’s not all speculation. Anyway, congrats to him and best wishes to sophie.
I’m not doubting the veracity cuz I saw the JR tweet as well, I was just wondering about the wording. Probably didn’t express myself well (it is almost midnight where I live so the brain wants sleep!).
Along with death and taxes, the fact that james rhodes will have something to say on twitter is another of life’s inevitable certainties.
Ah, and his vague “I’d love to post x but I shouldn’t…” posts are going to pick up in frequency now.
So you don’t like him either then…
Nice guy but his baiting on twitter drives me nuts.
JR? I think he’s funny, and he seems like a nice guy, and I do enjoy his piano playing, but sometimes he comes off as “HEY LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME I KNOW FAMOUS PEOPLE” But tbf… I’m sure a lot of us would be the same way in his shoes, going from the rock bottom to thrust into minor celebrity.
Kaiser, can you please cover the tumblr meltdown?!
I don’t think she needs to. It made its way here.
*hides under the table*
You know you think you’ve lived some life, seen some things. Then you read this thread and realize you ain’t seen nothing!
T.Fanty- I shall join you under the table. Can there be margaritas?!
Can I come too? PunkyMomma gave me Ativan upthread so I’ll bring those along as well.
Hello lovelies – I’ve just finished breakfast and thought I would swing by for some news…
So, anything exciting going on?
*stands at the Thornfield gates, listening to birds chirping and crickets cricketing*
Nuttin’ as far as I can see.
Oh that’s a shame. I was very much hoping to have something to chat about. Ah well, shall we just set a spell with our tea, then?
Lovely chapeau, by the way. By my troth – it suits you beautifully.
Pfft. You two are only being superior because you think you’re going to be bridesmaids.
Assuming that by tea, you mean gin, then yes, yes I think I shall, darling.
Sixer – I sincerely hope not. I spent an hour today fashioning a beautiful wedding hat out of a dead octopus and a couple of metres of fine maroon denim. It would be such a shame to let it go to waste.
Now if only somebody could get that darn country and western caterwauling to stop.
I’m going as the Lady of Shalott. I can’t see whether the get-up suits me or not, sadly, what with the crack’d mirror an’ all. I’ll have to rely on your opinion.
(BTW, I read a cool article linking Shakespeare to the mode of production t’other day and thought of you. If you think your students would be interested, I’ll look it up for you.)
I resent the assumption, Sixer. I am acting superior because I have a grossly inflated opinion of myself.
Fanty – what did you think I meant by tea?
Miss Jane! You WON’T be a bridezmaid? I think that’s very churlis(z?)h of Benny the Bouncer. Cheeze and pickle?
Miss J – Phew! I was worried that all this time away had warped your brain. Thank god you’re still normal.
Sixer – thanks! If you still have my twitter handle, send away! I’ve just declared myself a card-carrying Shakespearean Marxist (do we still get cards for that?), which is kind of unfortunate, because it means that I will have to turn down Hiddles when he (inevitably) throws himself at my feet, as my token protest against the bourgeoisie. Stupid communists.
T.Fanty, this is the best meltdown ever!!!!
*sips a glass of wine* cheers to batch and Sophie!
Nope! Don’t even! Tumblr is full of love and congratulations to the happy couple, haven’t seen a hint of a meltdown. The crazy fan girls aaaaall showed up to Celebitchy instead. This is the creepiest comments section I’ve ever read on this site….
If you had read the conversation you commented on, you would notice that is implied that the meltdown is happening here.
Oh god, I just realised…the Team Sophie posters on EB are going to have a frickin field day! I know where I wont be going any time soon!
I personally think he’s settling… he wants kids, she’s the right “type” of person to marry… oh well.
I don’t think she’s the right woman for him… but I think he’s just ready for a family and is tired of waiting.
Their whole relationship is just sad, though. He doesn’t seem truly happy to me.
I’m a pretty good body language reader, and Benedict seems incredibly unhappy. If this is the real deal and he’s engaged, he’s definitely settling. Which is sad, because he seems like he’s a great catch. If it makes down the aisle, I will be shocked though. Time will tell.
God I am so glad I am not the only one who thinks this. Honestly, he does not look like he’s happy or in love. Not the way he looked in photos of him and OP. And yes, I know they are old photos and it was a LTR but THAT is a man in love. No sneaking around, no pissed off expressions…either being around SH is rubbing off on him or…well, I don’t even know how to finish that thought!
@ Ash: No one on Celebitchy has any way of knowing anything about them. Photo assumption is not real. And how would any random person know what Benedict Cumberbatch is honestly, truly like? Just because someone is a fan doesn’t mean they have an inside track into his personal thoughts and relationships.
Honestly, I don’t care about him at all, really. But I got sucked into the comments and all the vitriol here is making me unapologetically TEAM HAPPY FOR THEM.
@Diana. Pictures say a thousand words. I hope they were just off day pictures but I have no malice to her or him, and I hope this isn’t an oscar ploy, and it real love. He showed more affection in photos with OP, AJ, and other people than SH, that’s what I’m basing it off, given I’ve seen a few pics of each. I hope they are happy.
Maybe he’s reading unhappy because he’s been having to hide all this time. Maybe he’s super nervous when they’re together because he’s been trying to keep it secret that they’re together.
I’ve a friend whose done this. Was desperate for a baby, settled with a guy we all dislike (not saying his friends and family don’t like SH) and know deep down while she’s so happy with her baby, she is deeply unhappy with him and always will be. He’s not a bad guy, they are just so not right for each other.
It’s sad.
*not saying this is what’s going on with him, just waxing lyrical about my own personal experience*
@Lindy79 – happens quite a bit. I once visited a physical therapist who told me her gynaecologist had told her at 30 that she better hold on to her then BF and have kids. (She had doubts) He apparently was no fan of older mothers. Apparently she agreed and had a kid with the BF. (Yikes) A friend of mine the same thing more or less. She had a scare regarding her reproductive health, did a bit of online dating for a month, dated and bought a house w. the guy, after one year she was already bored of him, but fast forward a few months and she’s pregnant…
To each his/her own, I’ll never understand it, but some people are more pragmatic or just really, really want something. If you ignore your heart though, yikes. Hope that’s not the case for BC & Sophie.
@Diana
All I’m saying is that something isn’t right… and his behavior towards her and their whole relationship goes against everything he’s done in the past. I honestly think he’s settling. He has not once looked happy in ANY photo he has been in with her.
If she’s the one… then good for them. If not… I hope he comes to realize it before he walks down the aisle.
PS – Not to mention… she’s his fiancee and has not once EVER fixed his wardrobe?!?!?!? What a terrible future wife! *ha ha ha*
I think we’re missing the bigger issues here. What will Cumby wear to his wedding???? Velvet? Jorts? Chambray shirt? Dad pants? Cumbercurls or no Cumbercurls?
Mazel tov to Cumby. He found another otter to hold hands with!
Cannot wait 😀 All eyes will be on the groom though.
A tiny top hat at a jaunty angle and some crappy sunglasses.
I keep imagining a 70’s velvet tux now. (How AMAZING would it be if he did wear a velvet tux?!) But my money is that they’ll go full British and he’ll wear a morning coat.
My dad wore a dark purple velvet suit with a massive velvet bow tie and my mum had a long floaty dress with white platform boots. It was truly epic
I vote chambray shirt, glasses and that newsmans cap, backwards! And SH will probably wear something with tentacles, to match the Octopus video…
Too nasty? :/
Maroon velvet jorts with a chambray shirt, a tiny hat, and glitter shoes.
He put the glitter shoes up for auction for a charity so no glitter shoes I’m afraid
no comments about the wedding? you can all bitch about Sophie but it isn’t going to change anything.
now is he going to beat the Clooney’s and take over Venice? or did secretly happen already – ‘cough’ telegraph article.
I really hope we see some photos and that it isn’t hush hush, this could be greatest Brit-actor gathering of the decade. He can donate the Hello wedding photos to Save the Penguins or the support the new fandom-psych ward – which a lot of people above and tumblr will be shortly on.
Engravings!@P’enny-correction – pengwings!
Penlings!
*SPEW TEA*
That last para. Respect.
If they’re announcing in it the Times, I’m guessing big society wedding, all the while pretending that they don’t want publicity and hiring a lot of security. Somewhere quintessentially British and posh.
I do like your donation ideas 😉
That fandom psych ward better be HUGE.
Can my beloved Tommy be far behind? Why not cause Tumblr to collapse completely? 🙂
I can’t wait for the Cumberbabies!
A-HA!
Virtual claps for you.
I believe you all meant “pingwings.”
Oh man, when I watched Graham Norton last week, I thought I was going to die from laughing, I had never heard about his issue pronouncing the word, and it was just way too funny
Well, congrats to them (I’m assuming it’s true)! God help Sophie, though, with the impending meltdown.
Also, *grabs popcorn*
this isn’t as entertaining as I thought it would be. Bummer.
Maybe imagine Justin Timberlake’s reaction at how this engagement news overshadowed his baby announcement?
I don’t think it does in the real world. Benny is internet famous. Has a crazy ass following but the general public doesn’t know much about him. oh well. I got walls to paint anyway. But it is boring and I needed some entertainment.
I’m genuily surprised at how invested women are in this relationship. How can some of you know why he chose to marry her? Are you his confidantes, his psychologists? Do you know her personally? Is she really, truly that horrid? Did she steal your boyfriend in high-school? You don’t know anything about them personally. Get a grip!
Hi. Welcome too ‘celebitchy’ , for CELEBRITY. GOSSIP. Why are you even here if that’s so beneath you? I find it v odd when people come onto celeb gossip sites to tell the people indulging in celeb gossip to ‘get a life/get a grip’ yadda yadda.
I like gossip like anyone else around here. I just think it’s a bit extreme to project such harsh assumptions towards a relationship we ultimately know nothing about. I actually think it’s great if he’s in love and getting married and maybe they just really fit together.
@grace
That’s what celeb gossip is. You speculate on what you have to go on. This isn’t unusual and I don’t understand why you seem so perplexed as you’re clearly familiar with sites like this.
You’re on a gossip website my dear not the New York Times.
Oh, no! My elitist self can’t believe it.
@ grace
don’t you realise that…
A – you can tell everything about everyone from a couple of photographs and an interview
B – any dissenting thoughts will get you banished/threatened/patronised?
people are taking the website name very literally today.
“people are taking the website name very literally today.” LOL
@sputnik, don’t forget their Twitter accounts. You can know everything about a couple’s relationship by monitoring what the woman follows on Twitter.
I don’t get the hate either. It’s actually really really disturbing. WHY DOES IT MATTER. Honestly. Yes – it’s celebrity gossip. But it’s gotten to the point where people are acting like they personally are affected by this, or that they personally know the couple. I’m all for bitching about dumb things celebs do – but there’s just so much focus on how she HAS to be a terrible person. I’ve barely heard anything about the woman before – I feel like a lot of this discussion today has gone much further than general speculation and gossiping.
His life. His choice. If he’s happy with it, I’m not sure why people are so disgusted by the choice. We don’t KNOW that he’s better than her. There’s a lot of ‘ spoiled rich girl’ going around, but if he’d selected someone with nothing to their name, it’d have jumped right on to the ‘gold digger’ comments.
I don’t know, it just baffles me that some people have made soooo many posts tearing this whole thing down for no real reason – and as soon as they’re questioned about their reasoning, the one questioning is told that they’re being ridiculous or don’t understand the purpose of the site. It’s a lot of energy to put into something like that, you know? Maybe Benny isn’t some saint. Maybe he’s happy. Maybe he sees a different Sophie than some posters claim her to be.
Either way, it’s not going to impact my life whatsoever outside of the time it took to type this.
@sputnik , @Errin
My point exactly! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t get why gossiping has to be so absurdly vicious for no good reason.
*applauds*
Erinn, well said, now, please help yourself to some cookies and tea, or some sherry, if you prefer.
Oh stop with the drama. There really hasn’t been much actual ‘hate’ on here at all. I find it pretty weird that if you’ve got anything less than the (far creepier) ‘OMG SHES AMAZING IM SOOOOO HAPPY’ to give, then you’re a hater. Who has actually said she’s a ‘terrible person’? Nobody. So please stop suggesting anyone has just because they’re not kissing her arse.
The point about being rich was quite valid seeing as she’s admitted in the past she gets hand outs from her parents. That really gets to people who have to work bloody hard and fund themselves. I really find I need to call out the people who give a false picture of how fans react. It’s just wrong and people love to revel in invented drama. Now THATS disturbing.
Btw, please don’t call him ‘Benny’, it makes my skin crawl.
*Erinn*
Yep. It is much ado about nothing (anyone knows anything about anyway). I’ve moved on from tea to a fine merlot as I watch the show…
Smart of them to do this before the next season of Sherlock gets heavily promoted. Congrats to the happy couple!
Congratulations to him. I hope his fans are decent about the engagement. I mean, look, he was going to marry someone someday and odds are it wasn’t going to be any of us. An woman in his own age bracket who’s not a ridiculous famehog and has some accomplishments to her name is more palatable than most pairings (and she who curses too much at this one will live to see him marry a Kardashian).
“some accomplishments”, lol.
Ben is a nice guy and I think they’re just friends. He wants to help his friend’s career. Get her some exposure in showbiz. She probably wants to direct movies and what better way than to introduce her to the biz during Oscar season. He will announce end of engagement in March.
that’s my theory. But hey, if it works out, great for ’em.
I hope he doesn’t go that far and I am with you on the crow but if the wedding does go through, Wendy Williams has a recipe for crow.
So one question: those restaurant photos: was there a ring?
Nope. No ring.
Weird. If they’re doing banns you’d think he’d be traditional and get a ring.
An announcement isn’t banns though. Banns are different. And I’m sure they’re having an octopus ring designed that’s appropriately avant garde…
What is “Banns”?
@Maria, some religions (Catholic, some more established Protestant faiths) require that a couple post “banns” prior to a marriage. Banns consist of a formal announcement in the church’s publication, a specified number of times prior to the marriage ceremony.
She doesn’t have one yet. The January sales aren’t for another two months.
*snort!*
I nearly sprayed my laptop with tea! That was punchline genius T.Fany!!
Slow clapping
*winks, clicks tongue, and gun-finger-points at you gals*
(there has to be an emojicon for that)
Will he go to Jared?
*T.Fanty*
You have been missed. I was hoping you’d come out of the shed/garden/wherever you are with Capt Sexy and join the party.
*cleans spittle/merlot splatter from computer screen*
And he’s waiting for a nice used ring to come along. Perhaps a tenth of a carat? Or maybe some sequins he saved from his glitter shoes.
Congrats to them, it’s always nice when people find happiness in life.
If he really wants a family, the guy is 38 years old (or something close) It isn’t like he can afford to wait years and years to make everyone happy. Sure, he can father children well into old age, but why would he want to?
I don’t know, maybe there is a conspiracy here, but I, for one, hope that they are hopelessly in love, get married and have a Duggar size family. 🙂
In all seriousness, does anyone really think there is more to it than: they got together after knowing each other for a while, she’s in his circle so he trusts her and she fits with what he wants in a partner, she has a career (as such) isn’t a hanger on but will never eclipse his.
It paints him in a very dull predictable light to me but not entirely shocking given the last months.
I’m with you, Lindy. Really, she’s perfect on paper. Upper class, right kind of societal ties. She knew him before he was “famous”. She’s blandly pretty, but not threateningly so (he’s not going to get the ‘wow, he’s out of her league’). She’s educated and artsy, but doesn’t have enough of a career that when she starts popping out babies it will be an obvious drop in her profile.
I’m not all that shocked. He’s been dating this ‘type’ for years now.
Is the implication that they’re probably not in love? Eh, I don’t know. I think they’re likely to be. Falling in love with someone isn’t all that uncommon. Falling in love with someone who’s on the same page about what they want out of life can be harder, but I’ve seen a number of people around his age do so and have very happy marriages, because they had a good idea of what they were looking for already. It sounds like his last relationship ended because they cared for each other but couldn’t make something important work, so he might have been in that group who knew what to go looking for after the breakup.
I suppose it’s not very thrilling, but that wasn’t the impression I had of him in his private life anyway.
Sorry no, i meant i dont think theres more to it than i said. No conspiracy theories…just boring, predictable, posh love.
Oh, then I’m with you, Lindy. I don’t see any schemes here.
One can’t help but believe he’s using this to his advantage though. This ‘grand’ announcement a week before his oscar hopeful film is released? Hmmmm.
I think he’s tired of looking and she’s the “right” person on paper.
His mother might really want him to have children too. I had a friend who’s mom always asked him about “when was he going to get married and have kids”… this could be what’s going on as well. I think I read a quote from a long time ago where Wanda expressed that she wanted him to “find a bird in London already”, or something like that.
I think he’s getting older, he really wants kids, he’s tired of looking… and she fits. I don’t think he’s happy. I think he’s trying to please his parents and his fans and it’s all running up against his age and his career. I don’t think this is a PR ploy. I think it’s for real. And he’s throwing in the towel.
I guess we’ll see what happens… I really do hope he doesn’t marry her (and I hope she’s not pregnant). Not b/c she’s a bad person… but b/c he truly. doesn’t. seem. happy.
We really don’t know. I’ve no clue on her especially. A few really old interviews and questionable gossip doesn’t amount to much. Big fan of her not being in her 20s, that is really the only thing that would have irked me and it’s all too common with male celebs.
He’s not getting any younger and they could both be settling, but maybe it’ll work out. Cute that his parents ran the announcement, mine did the same for my sister!
Maybe knowing each other for longer made the whole thing speed up. I never dated among my friends (dont s*** where you eat and all that) so I cant really tell.
After churning on this I came to 2 conclusions
1. she is preggers
2. this will be a long engagement
3. they are really super in love and everything is well
*raises hand then bolts the heck outta this post* 😀
I’d also like to give props to all the CBs who called this during the summer, granted it was with Lady K but still…they were bang on about who he would end up with.
I will be honest, when I did a quick google search of Benedict this morning and saw all this news about his engagement under the news feed of google, I was shocked!
In my mind, this has come out of nowhere. To be honest, my heart dropped and i couldn’t believe still can’t believe it. Then I saw the time and realized I still got to go to work.
All of this to say (not to say people can’t express their opinion) but at the end of the day, it is what it is.
I feel better now.
Hopefully they’ll start acting like a couple in love now?!?! A big whatever from me. I just hope he’s happy but I have my doubts. Time for the silly sneaking around to end, I think. It made him look ridiculous.
Why are some of you acting like you truly know what’s going on in their relationship?
They’ve known each other for years, run in the same circles so they don’t need to do any of the getting to know each other stuff. They’ve practically been by each other’s side since July and they were trying to keep it on the down low as it’s not anyone else’s business. Please don’t throw the premier crap at me as she needed to get there somehow and would of course be with her other half on such a special night. They didn’t walk the carpet/arrive together as it would have just taken away from the main focus; the movie.
Anyway, I’m so glad this has been announced as the denials were driving me crazy. Yes, we all have that single straight male friend who we go to weddings, holidays, city breaks and dinner with…..not.
Anon-
Ironic, seeing as you seem to think you’re fairly sure what’s going on in the relationship.
Firstly, you don’t know how close they were in the past, they may have hardly seen each other and if you’re getting married to someone, you DO need to do the getting to know each other stuff. It’s a whole different kettle of fish to being someone’s mate for a few years.
How do you know they’ve been by each other’s sides since July? he spent much of the summer filming and at sdcc etc for a start and the unconfirmed sightings you talk of don’t confirm she was ‘by his side’.
And the point about the premiere is that they were very much not keeping things on the ‘down low’. Yes, she had to get there somehow, but that somehow did not have to be a parade through photographers outside the hotel very conveniently times three minutes before him, ditto a chauffeur driven entrance onto the red carpet conveniently again right in front of fans and a skivvy holding an umbrella for her and seeing her all the way along the red carpet. She could’ve walked onto the red carpet from the street as did the rest of the guests and would’ve gone unnoticed. THAT would’ve been ‘the down low’
What actually happened was not. Why is that so hard to understand.
He was seen out with a mystery woman in LA late July and a mystery woman at the NT in late August, so it would appear they were not entirely exclusive at the time. Now that an engagement has been confirmed, I think these sightings will start winding down and it will be Sophie or nothing at all.
Anon, shhh, it’s a waste of time. They’re in denial. 😀
^ Seems intelligent conversation is too much to hope for sometimes.
Btw, to all the people crowing that she didn’t walk with him at the premiere because it would ‘overshadow the film’ or some such egomaniacal bs, how do they explain the grand announcement in a national paper a week before the release date?
LOL, there are some super defensive posters on here I have to say.
Nic, I think announcing the engagement in the newspaper is just posh British etiquette. http://www.debretts.com/british-etiquette/british-behaviour/h/engagement
It kind of fits his sometimes precious demeanor.
@grace
I’m british and it’s a ridiculous pretentious thing to do. I roll my eyes at the royals etc doing it but you expect it from them.
My point was more, if he felt he HAD to announce it in the times, despite wanting to be private, why not wait til at least the movie’s been out a few weeks as not overshadow it, which is what some people suggested as a reason for her not travelling in a car with him at the premiere.
Exactly, Nic. And if Wanda and Timothy are so happy to be welcoming this woman into the family then why didn’t she arrive at the premiere with them? As far as I know, she wasn’t seen anywhere near them. She wasn’t seen with anyone!
So a fantastic actor who harps on about privacy publicly announces an engagement around Oscar time. Oh Batch, you disappoint me.
In all honesty, it’s a mistake to announce it this early if it’s for the Oscars. The voters aren’t going to remember/care months from now.
•An•
It’s WAY too early for any of the major awards. The news cycle is just too short and too ADHD nowadays for this to carryover for months…
It really isn’t too early. These things need starting early.. The media is going to drone on about this for months.
But for someone apparently at pains to protect their privacy at all costs to make a times announcement, is just beyond hysterically funny. Hypocritical springs to mind.
It gives a talking point for interviews that’s beyond “sooooo…your fans are cumberbitches, huh? ha ha ha ha” and it’s an endearing “story” and looks good in awards season. If it’s for PR, it’ll also further be endearing when it ends in March or April, awww poor benny, he can’t find love! Quick, someone give him a romcom! (Yes, I’m super cynical and this whole thing is just… hypocritical. Nic nailed it.)
It’s a no-win, Nic. There’s no way to protect privacy without hiding her entirely. So his parents wanted to run an announcement and he let them because it’s a moot point, everyone already knew anyway.
Would have been more effective to announce it closer to voting time.
Who said it’s his folks that ran it? There’s nothing in the Times that says that.
MissMary …the romcom idea (or lead as a romantic hero) has sprung to my mind as well ever since I read the Elle UK interview.
ITA with you on all counts.
MissMary-Sky News, who appears to be the first person to talk to the publicist:
http://news.sky.com/story/1367115/cumberbatch-engagement-announced-by-parents
@An: Aaaaah, okay, because when I see something like that run by the parents, at least in papers here, it’s usually “Mr and Mrs X, parents of Y, are pleased to announce Y’s engagement to Z”.
-MissMary: it’s probably boiler-plate but with moms listed first, I seriously first thought ‘Wanda is determined that this includes everything’ 😀
I get why other people are bothered, do. I just personally don’t see how they hid it unless she didn’t attend things, which seems crappy if she wants to, so there’s no ‘privacy’ to protect here. You can’t have both, might as well quell it and make mom happy.
His folks wouldn’t have run it without his permission. I’m sure if he or she had issue with it and wanted to keep it private, they wouldn’t have.
Its just a bit odd after all the trying to keep things quiet for however many months.
@An, they didn’t hide is per-say but they did go to lengths to not be photographed together while it was blindingly obvious they were together. Most put it down to it being a new thing which is fair enough but now that an engagement has been announced it just seems odd that she didn’t at least walk the red carpet with him, or his folks. It was a huge deal for him and you’d imagine most men would want their fiance by their side proudly, not slinking by in the background alone.
Lindy79: Playing both sides here, I think that it comes down to not knowing what was actually going on.
If we’re agreeing it’s beneficial for him to have this out in the public now, then it was before too, giving rise to the possibility she’s the one who didn’t want the full experience until there was permanency involved. What we’ve seen have been compromises.
Had it not worked out, she could have just faded into the background again. Of course, that would have left him in an odd, frustrating spot over the last 6 months.
By publishing the ad, they also side-stepped making an announcement directly though an entertainment mag like most celebs do.
They could have just not announced it at all and carried on being engaged in private.
Crazy notion i know.
Exactly Lindy. Nobody would’ve been any the wiser and an engagement could’ve remained a very private thing, but nope, let’s go the other way and place an ad space in the Times. How’s it so many other people don’t see that as a massive 360 degree turn for him?
I guess my point is yes they could have kept the engagement private but there’s no real point in that if she’s now going to be seen on his arm because it’s going somewhere.
That ship had already sailed lol. Secret girlfriend/secretly engaged rumors were out there. This will cause a short-term spike in interest but in the long term, it cuts the rumor mill down and will decrease interest in him.
But the point is, he didn’t have to announce an engagement so publicly. He could’ve just carried on with his life and said nothing.
Yes, Nic, but now it won’t be exciting, click-bait worthy gossip anymore if she shows up with him on red carpets [which would have attracted the attention of higher level mags] or is snapped with him.
Discounting the Oscar thing, as even I with my ultra cynical nature don’t think he’d go so far as to get engaged for an Oscar, it’s the public announcement in the Times that irks.
It contradicts both his “I’m not posh, and I’m private” declarations SO much. It’s the literal opposite of both.
I’ll be curious to see if when asked in interviews/red carpets etc. will he refuse to talk about it in any way. If he does then he’s a bit of an arse.
We are on the same wavelength. For someone who hates the posh card and loves his privacy so much he’s been hiding a girlfriend for months, an announcement in the Times seems massively duplicitous.
Lindy- I hope when he’s asked about getting engaged (b/c it will happen when he’s doing the US Imitation Game PR rounds in the next few weeks), he gets a huge, goofy grin on his face and looks so happy that he’s bouncing in his seat. I’d like to see that from any newly engaged man or woman.
If he just shuts it down and says ‘no comment’, yes, he’s a bit of an ass. Lol.
I think the engagement is probably legit but the timing of the announcement has Oscar written all over it .The when and how will keep him in the limelight well into April or whenever they are and you can bet your bottom dollar every time it comes up in interviews or in articled Turing will get a mention.
Mind you this and his sudden urge to plat Hamlet before he gets to old does indicate for me a little bit of a mid life time is running out crisis.
As for lady she fits with the image he likes to present and as some one put it elsewhere they are a god mirror image of each other aspirations.
Is she pregnant…
Wondering the same thing
Same here. I suspect so.
So, who thinks they’ll get married before Hamlet? I do.
I bet Lady K is crushed.
Wow. Just wow. It seems like those of us who have been following him closely for a while can see how weird this whole thing is. Others may not and call us ‘haters’ but whatever.
I can get a showmance for award season, but an engagement! This is so not like him you guys.
But I’m not going to assume things about him anymore. Fame changes people, and he isn’t immune, which is disappointing because I thought he was different.
Anyway new theory: he really wants a family and settled for someone boring, who would be more than happy to play along. She’ll never overshadow him. I’m sure she has her charms, but she’ll never be the great romance he had hoped for. It’s more a pragmatic relationship. He’ll lose some fans, but he’s getting fed up with them anyway, so this is a win. I’m just disappointed he chose to play this game.
Given his recent interviews, it seems, at times, like he wants to be rid of fans entirely.
MM–yep. I don’t think he cares about the fan thing. I’m thinking back to his “I’m taken” comment at TIFF. Guess he wasn’t lying. I actually never took that comment as joke, so I’m not that surprised about this news. I think she’s probably pregnant too.
I don’t think being engaged is an attempt to get rid of fans–let me be clear on that–I think it’s more to do with how he’s been in interviews lately and his general attitude towards fans and fandom that’s made such a sudden shift in the public eye since this past spring.
that’s because his fans are psychopaths.
That’s unfair. There’s a few true weirdos but it’s no different for him than anyone else.
@blended: same. I remember that when he had his home revovated he said, he wanted to fill it with life and love and children. Well, that is what he does right now. Maybe Sophie is just the one he always wanted, she is pretty, a bit posh, intelligent and artsy. But until now I have seen no signs of joy or passion.
Agreed, the chemistry and new love glances, hand holding and desire to be near just isn’t there but then again, if they did this for ‘privacy’ what was the point of such a public announcement?
What I don’t get is why he was heard telling LFF staff and on-set visitors that he was single and hand’t found that special someone yet to make his mama proud with grand babies? Just own it!! Why lie just a couple weeks before this??
That’s what I’m wondering, Lauren–more than one person at more than one event in the recent past, while he’s been supposedly “With” SH has said BC has claimed singlehood, etc. I’d be pretty effin’ pissed off if a man I was dating was saying that. If he was saying it to be private, then all he has to say is “Oh, I don’t talk about my personal life, sorry.”
I’ve been cringing with secondhand embarrassment the whole time I’ve been reading these comments. I guess I’m just naive, but I honestly didn’t realize so many adults still got this obsessed and deluded when it came to celebrities they develop crushes on.
The people that make comments about others being obsessed are usually the most obsessed themselves. Do shut up. You’ll find this level of celeb gossip about everyone in the public eye and there’s really nothing that freaky or weird on here. Wtf are you even doing on here f you’re so horrified by celeb gossip sites? Methinks it’s because you frequent here a lot.
As for your ‘I don’t know much about him’ ..course you don’t love. Your weird ‘they seem aesthetically suited is something familiar I’ve heard on some definitely dubious tumblr sites.
Hahaha. I’m guessing you meant to reply to Aye Gee instead of me, but I’ll bite–of course I frequent this site. Reading about celeb gossip is fun. Pretending I actually know a damn thing about any of these people and their personal relationships and getting bizarrely defensive whenever anyone questions my “insights” and unhealthy level of interest in a famous stranger I will never meet would be sad and a little scary.
Do you understand what speculation means? Course it’s guesswork. You just come here to provide social commentary, I take it? You don’t participate in this. Nooo. And nope, people aren’t getting defensive over having their ‘insights’ questioned, they’re defensive when frequent gossip site visitors post purely to say how weird it is to be on here gossiping about celebrities.
Jeez this thread is too much….
Oh you’re kinda racist too. Well, you are an absolute treat. Can we be friends?
@Nic
“You don’t participate in this. Nooo. ”
Since by “this” you apparently mean “concocting elaborate conspiracy theories about an actor’s personal life based on nothing but interviews and body language in candid photographs,” yes, I can honestly say I don’t participate. Hell, I’m not that interested in people I actually know.
I do make fun of people’s hair and fashion choices, though. Guilty as charged there.
Not sure if I’m one of them, I just think it’s odd when an actor bangs on about his privacy and his private life being his own (and rightly so), while simultaneously bringing his GF to public places but wont travel/be seen with her, then goes and announces his engagement to her in the Times.
If you think that’s me declaring he’s cheated on me then…ok then.
he doesn’t owe anyone anything. He has his public life and his private life.
This comment was for @shanasty, it won’t post next to here for soe reason.
Exactly. So he needs to work out whether he wants to share his private life or not. Other actors achieve privacy perfectly. He’s all over the place IMO
@Nic: “So he needs to work out whether he wants to share his private life or not. Other actors achieve privacy perfectly. He’s all over the place IMO” THIS. YES. I honestly don’t care IRL if he marries her, Olivia, Richard Armitage, or the entire Royal Navy in a ceremony officiated by pengwings, but if he’s going to cry about being private then splash around everywhere, he’s going to get side-eye.
Mmmm, Richard Armitage. Now there’s someone I wouldn’t mind seeing more posts about 😀
To be fair to BC, he did only put the announcement in one place. A very, very public place, but still, only one :p (Maybe a dumb question- but can anyone put an engagement announcement in the Times? Or do you have to be *somebody*, or a subscriber, or anything like that? Does it cost anything to do)
Now let’s see SH and BC attend the NYC IG premiere…together! Open and in public. Lol
Well exactly. He only needed to put it in one place seeing as that place was a national newspaper. But apparently he’s very private. Literally.makes.no.sense
hit PR confirmed it too, right? and his friend the musician? i assumed that the paper thing is simply a tradition. if he wanted attention he woul dhave gone to some terrible celeb publication. am i wrong when i say that a paper announcement from parents is traditional and a common thing in the UK? If it is, it seems like he is just doing what he would normally do w/o fame and that seems to jive w what he says he wants
It’s not super common but a lot of the upper middles and upper crust sorts run an announcement in the Times.
@ Am
Putting a notice in your local newspaper is certainly usual or traditional here in New Zealand and I would assume it is in Britain as well.
Yep.
But let’s see if he acts any different now. Since the news is out, there’s really no point in them doing the separate thing anymore.
@Tara: I could post one there tomorrow saying I’m marrying Nikolai Tesla and it’ll run. That’s why they checked with his PR to see if it was legit. And yesssssssssssss more RA is always welcome lol. He’s not hard on the eyes at all, and I have loved him in just about every role I’ve seen him in.
I’m willing to bet she always does the LFF maneuver at these premieres. “Don’t look at me but look at me!” It seems to be her MO with or without BC.
It is normally quite well to do people who put these adverts in the Times and the Daily Telegraph and yes you do have to pay and you have to be able to prove it is genuine. But anyone can do it.
I rather like that he quietly did this in such an old fashioned way.
In Britain a lot of people make birth/marriage/death announcements in local papers.
@joe spider
We do similar in the states. It’s considered out of the norm to not put a message about marriage, engagements, death, what have you. If I ever get married, whether I marry a Normal everyday guy or someone in the public eye, it’s going to be very low-key, only immediate family and friends will know. That’s me though. I’m incredibly private.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, there’s nothing ‘quiet’ about announcing your engagement in a national paper. It’s kind of pretentious IMO. Not to mention utterly baffling if you don’t want people knowing your business.
@Nic: If his public persona keeps going in the direction it’s been going, it’s likely fodder for him to complain about the interest in this “private moment in his life” in the next few interviews.
I’m still amazed that two weeks ago he couldn’t walk into a restaurant with SH and now he’s engaged to her. Makes me wonder how they’ll manage the whole fame thing.
At the JR wedding, in the group photo, Benedict was looking at Sophie like she had Ebola. It actually looked like he had moved up a step to get away from her. She was all smiles. If you love someone then love them. There is something wrong if you are worried about who is looking. It is too calculated.
like Ebola. lol! Well according to some encounters in the UK with people who aren’t even his fans, she treats people like they’re Ebola, so all even.
MissMary
They are welcome to each other.
He’s obviously as pretentious as she is.
he is looking for a long time career but I’m 100 percent certain that his star will drop in the next years as fast as it rised because let’s face it: he is no Brad Pitt or else – interest in him will decrease fast – Sherlock or not – and he won’t get prettier with age either lol
True, DDL is better looking than Brad Pitt, PSH was a sex god and Willem Dafoe has always been a pretty boy….
People already knew his business lol. Prefer this over selling it to some pub rag.
No they didn’t know his business. Those aren’t the only options. As I say, many actors keep these things quiet. None of this was necessary.
Yeah, they kinda did. He was busted before Hunter was even first seen right? Back in April. Then the engagement back a few weeks ago. There’s clearly a leak in his circle somewhere from the start and it was just a matter of time.
Probably are heading someone off, since this is quite the opposite of what his PR would have wanted. It certainly won’t help IG’s box office, given his fanbase, and needed to be about two months from now for maximum award season.
Of course, maybe Hunter didn’t want to be super public until they sealed the deal, but whatever the case, they still had someone who knew them gabbing regularly.
this is what i was wondering. were all these clickbait articles great guesses, or was someone spilling tea and they are heading that off?
@am: they had a leak all along, that ‘going to ask her mother permission’ is far too specific IMO. Maybe tipped the restaurant paps off too, who knows? He looked surprised, so I don’t think it was set-up at all. This engagement announcement was at least under their control, and not done though the media.
Wasn’t it her mom who was all, watch this space!
Or it was her…. Hahahaha. I’m just kidding, before anyone jumps all over me.
Back around April, there was a clickbaity “he’s furious because he’s found out someone in his inner circle is gabbing!” article tied to the SGF mess… at the time most folks didn’t believe it but the fact remains we have no idea who all is in “his circle” and who all are in their “circles” so… very possible someone is leaking like a sieve an it’s not a close friend but maybe someone’s partner or friend who can’t keep their mouth shut. Or it’s all very well planned and plotted. Or extremely lucky guesses…
Maybe it was him of his people greasing the rails for an inevitable announcement. Noone gets that lucky with info. If you think about it the whole saga sounds planned from the beginning. Well placed innuendo, BC hanging with Kinvara, phony sightings with mystery women. It was all a con job.
@ Nic
He obviously did want people to know about his engagement, that is why he did the traditional thing and put it in a newspaper. That is what people do when they are proud to announce that they are engaged.
I don’t see that it is pretentious or baffling.
Maggie: Some posters who are from the UK and specifically the London area have said that putting in the Times is a very posh and “upper crust” thing to do, as opposed to running an announcement in a smaller, local paper or even a different pub. So it comes off, esp to some of the UK posters, as pretentious. I know here, in the area where I live, almost 100 percent of wedding announcements in the big city paper are posh-ish or nouveau-riche types while the “rest of us”, if we do announcements, go local or just on an as needed basis.
At MissMary-[Sorry, nothing is going in the right spot?] It circulated multiple times in different mags. I had thought someone was giving info to the media too.
I’ve honestly thought about more than I probably ought too–:D–and decided his announcement options were nothing, this or, say, selling it to something like People.
I don’t think nothing was going to cut it anymore: if he wants to take her to TIG events openly without the media focusing on that, an engagement announcement works. It’s not “interesting” now that people know. That leaves doing it yourself or using a celebrity publication for the added hoopla, and he went with the former.
@An: my cynical/conspiracy theory prone self, lol, wonders if his PR/he was told “yeah, this info is gonna run, so if it’s not true, speak up, otherwise say something NOW before we print it on x date” so they went ahead and said something before they were “ready” or before it was planned.
Miss Mary-Entirely plausible, and I’d probably do the same thing just to have some sort of control over it. Plus, well, no one is going to give a hoot when she pops up. I admit, it’s kind of nice from my selfish perspective. The focus will drop back to TIG pretty fast now, instead of his love life.
You think this is going to put the focus back ON the film? Seriously?
I know Nic, the pregnancy/is it for an oscar/are they married already? speculation started immediately and will continue for months. This will die down, it was a huge surprise yesterday but it wont go away.
Also people suggesting they did this to “get people off their backs”.. are you serious? So they wont act like a couple or say “yes we are dating, nothing else to report” but they’ll get engaged and announce it? This makes zero sense to me.
I guarantee there are already papers angling for the first picture of them together looking like they at least know each other. Its spread like wildfire everywhere. TIME reported it for gods sake.
If they’d just acted like a couple once it was serious (and it obviously was by LFF if they’re engaged a month later), him announcing his engagement wouldn’t have been this big, I genuinely believe that.
It was all this cloak and dagger bullshit, not being seen together but attending public events together and then BAM hello, we’re engaged that is giving it another angle beyond “actor gets engaged”.
I don’t think this was a whirlwind romance or that it was a shock to either of them that they got engaged. Everything about this seems like it’s been planned and I don’t even mean from a PR perspective, I just mean they aren’t acting like a couple who are so wrapped up in their romance they threw caution to the wind. They went to great lengths not to be seen together so they were aware and controlling aspects of this from the start. This to me was not a relationship that went from casual to engaged in a month.
If they continue with the separate things after The Times then they are both morons.
Agree lindy, again.
It’s all so back to front. Just step out dating and that’s no longer news, but to creep around playing peekaboo like idiots then announce an engagement which is (strangely) news. That won’t go away and now it will be the focus of his press promo for TIG. If he felt it needed to go in the paper, why not at least leave it til a couple of weeks after the film opened and most of the press for the release was done?
Ps. The engagement thing was in TIME MAGAZINE? Surely not… :0
Time didn’t run the announcement, but had an article called something like “The five stages of dealing with Benedict Cumberbatch’s engagement” and had a bunch of tweets from girls. The first few were denial and anger, and then acceptance and happiness.
It was pretty dumb and not something I’d expect to read there. But Time magazine is a bit obsessed with him. They are fangirls themselves.
No way. :0
Yes, Nic, it’ll die down. It’s not interesting once it’s out there, and they’re not the Clooneys. The US release is still 3 weeks from now. The UK release is far smaller. He could have waited, but at least if he’s taking her on the red carpet, there won’t be a bunch of ‘Are They?’ hoopla now. He can say whatever once and then easily limit his engagement questions going forward.
Lindy79, if the initial rumors were right, then she’s the one who didn’t want to be out in the open, which, quite frankly, makes sense from her perspective. I’m not saying it couldn’t have been handled better, but I also don’t know what the reasoning was. I disagree on it being smaller if they’d been more public, just based on previous celeb couples.
Sorry An. This has stirred up the press and his wave of interviews and press couldn’t be worse timing for all the questions. People aren’t just going to forget it. Of course not. That’s just crazy thinking.
“Close friends” have made comments to the Daily Fail. Only been dating since the summer and they got engaged this week.
Could be nothing but I’d find it hard to believe if they only got engaged on Monday, rang Times on Tuesday for a Wednesday edition, there was time for it to get to the press that quickly, thus forcing their hand to reveal anything. And even if it did, why does he care? It’s hardly something awful they would reveal (in most of those cases it’s drug use, an affair or outing someone). Again it’s me projecting, I thought he’d be the type that wouldn’t give a shit and say “let them run it then”.
I know i keep going back to it but come on…people are giving him too much credit on this, I get you like him but he’s not perfect and this has been handled weirdly from the get go. Tom Hardy who is similar in a lot of ways, not as big in some people’s eyes, but he managed to date, get engaged and marry without ANY announcements. Actors (he’s an actor not a celeb) do not HAVE to announce anything, so why feel that Mr Privacy had to?
The Times is not a local paper or newsletter. It is an international paper with syndicates online and around the world. It is not a “quiet” announcement.
Don’t think it’s a PR relationship, or she’s pregnant. Just that he’s near 40, met someone he already knew, wants to start a family (with some pressure from his folks), she’s educated, has some semblance of a career but also family money and she fits the bill, plus he knew her before he became big so he can trust her, and they move in the same circles. It’s a no brainer.
He’s a Hubbell and gone for the ultimate none-Katie girl.
@Lindy79, kudos on the The Way We Were reference.
That said, in school, I imagine BC was more mathlete than quarterback.
The Independent’s tweet on this is hilarious.
I don’t see anything too bad, truly. I think tumblr will be a million times worse than here, this is a gossip site. I saw worse things in the Clooney shindig. I hope that they’re both happier than they appear in pictures I’ve seen.
I am SO SCARED to look at Tumblr….but I kind of want to?
Green Girl: For the most part, no big. Lots of congrats and reblogs, lots of “OMG SUCK IT HATERS SHE IS PERF” type stuff but very little of the gnashing of teeth and wailing some people want.
I totally agree. It’s ridiculous pandemonium and hand wringing over a man and a woman they don’t even know. No one knows what is in his heart or mind unless they are in his inner circle…and even then….who knows? Watching the epic meltdown is entertaining though…lol.
Some people are just super defensive when it comes to BC….right? Equally sad and hilarious. Lmao.
Exactly. “They’re not in love!” according to armchair body language experts. “He must be settling!”, because God know the alternative (that he’s found someone who he wants to spend the rest of his life with) is unpalatable. “She must be pregnant!”- she got herself knocked up on purpose to trap him, the wily minx.
My favourite is ‘Ben is a nice guy and I think they’re just friends. He wants to help his friend’s career.” Yes, he’s only gotten engaged to kindly help this poor woman’s career.
Lainey said it best-
“The fact is he’s committed to a woman and the woman doesn’t live on the internet listening to the sound of his voice making dragon sounds over and over and over again.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
@Gine
So much love for this. This is the creepy side of celeb culture, we feel entitled to judge people based on incidents we know very, very little about.
It’s incredible. We have threads here about celebs being victims and culprits of abuse, racism, and several horrible stuff too and this couple gets twice the hateful comments for getting married. I think I’ll have to rent a couple of stadiums because ya’ll need several seats.
I on the other hand, always found it pathetic how people feel the need to make the effort of going to places they don’t like, commenting on things they have no interest in and to top it off then proceed to tell others what to do or what to say.
Id say stay on that high horse and use it to high tail it out of here.
I find it pathetic when diehard fan girls berate everyone who doesn’t fall into their line of thinking. A bit pathetic.
Why is the go-to accusation against anyone who’s alarmed by the scary level of obsession demonstrated in these comments “why are you even HERE if you don’t like it?” Uh, because reading about celeb gossip is a fun, harmless pastime for most people? I enjoy this site, I don’t understand how grown women can get THIS emotionally invested in the life of a total stranger, and I don’t consider those two things mutually exclusive.
@Gine – do come sit by me. I am in the same camp – I think. I made a comment on another site a while ago about popping some corn and watching the implosion that was happening over some imagined celebrity scandal and was accused of slowing down to look at car wrecks and enjoying others suffer.
For the record, I don’t enjoy sufferering – but then again, self-inflicted drama and angst over a stranger’s personal life hardly qualifies as suffering. Not even close. So you’ll pardon me if I side-eye anyone that seems far too emotionally invested for their own good and go back to enjoying the spectacle. Celebrity gossip is meant to be fun, or at least entertaining. It’s not going to win any of us Nobel prizes.
@Dara. word.
@Gine – plus eleventy billion.
THIS +10000
Gina, I can’t usually stand Lainey but that quote is on point.
People.are.gossiping.about.celebrities.
What is so hard to understand about that? People are just speculating. What is this distinction you’re seeing between the people who are here for harmless fun and the people who are discussing this? It’s one and the same. It’s celeb gossip. Stop trying to pretend you’re above it when you’re here and practically trolling others for doing the same as you.
@Nic: If we were going on about how “perf” they are together and “omg her delicate, noble beauty,” we’d be applauded. No skin off my back–I still think they come off sketch as eff but hey, if they’re a happy couple, mazel tov to ’em. I still side eye his hipocrisy though.
Tbh I don’t see any silly fangirl comments like that here, just congrats.
Holy crap – it’s so fast and furious in here, I can’t even get my comments to post in the right spot! Meltdown imminent…
I’m not Gina, people who are replying to Gina. Just FYI. (Hi Gina!)
Seconded
I am a fan but I am sad to see this because he shows zero chemistry with her. I have two theories: one, he wanted to keep this relationship ultra on the down-low and thus makes a point to not show any emotions in public, or two it is like a Ryan Gosling/Eve Mendes situation. I hope it is theory one because I DO want to see him happy. I would hate to be his ex though, maybe she is over it, but 11 years and no ring and then after 4-6 months he gets engaged to someone? Ouch!
Something tells me that was Olivia’s decision not to have a ring or baby in their relationship
Yes, Olivia broke up with him right before they started renovations on their ‘dream home’ because he was too much of a workaholic. They wanted the same things out of life but it sounded like he wasn’t the one willing to bend and it had been a sore point for a while. Of course that info came from sources supposedly close to the two so read it as you will.
Very interesting….maybe he found someone now who can deal with a workaholic?
Weirdest relationship ever. Oh well, been feeling like he is feeding his fa base a lot lately, so not surprised by anything anymore.
Agreed, the guy has been baiting like crazy for a while now. I love his work, but as a person, his appeal is fading.
@lauren: yes, baiting and flirting. And now this, it is so strange! Maybe his fame made him weird at last.
He’s definitely been weird of late. I know nobody knows him but when you’re truly happy it glows out of you. I agree that he’s been less likeable and not exactly relaxed.
Congratulations! She is so pretty and I hope they are happy together. Yes, shakes fist at clouds here.
Hi Sophie, hope you have a good time ;).
Lol
I hope you’re kidding and not assuming a vague, nice comment is obviously being put out by her camp.
I think she’s pretty too, booboo
*bangs head against wall*
Of course it’s a joke. There’s early no need to crack out the web police here. It really is important to have a sense of humour. There will be sites where you can join in on a collective worship but thankfully this one is above all that crawly crap.
As for whether she’s pretty, I’m long past arguing with people over what’s attractive. If she’s pretty to you, then, fine. That’s really not the issue anyway.
ROTFL at the announcement, Jeezus it reads like “Aragorn son of Arathorn of Gondor.” WTF? Is that how they do it in the UK.
Anyway, she’s an uninspired choice. She’s no Amal, that’s for sure.
I’m a Brad and Angie fan.. I don’t usually post on his threads.
but no one should call us JP fans loons or over the top again.
At least Brad and Angie in public looked like they were into each other 😉
I can only speak for myself: I may say Ooooooh conspiracy theory but yeah I don’t think anyone is that elaborate IRL. I side eye the whole thing b/c, as someone who is a long-time fan of his, his public persona has changed so drastically in the past few months, but if he wants to marry SH, mazel tov to ’em. Hope it works as they need it and want it to work!
MissMary… I guess he changed to suit his new circumstances in his life. I hope he makes some effort to appear happier than he seemed recently. I feel like I read him all wrong. My bad. It’s true I guess, no one really knows celebs. I do hope he’s happy. I’m no conspiracy theorist so I’ll take this for what it is. Best wishes to both and lots of luck. He wanted a wife and family and hopefully it’ll work out. Am I side-eyeing it? Yeah a bit but it ain’t my life.
This is where I am.
I just feel it’s not who he painted himself to be for a long time, which is fine it’s not like it has any impact on my life. I don’t have any opinion on her other than she seems a bit “meh”, he’s the one I am a fan of.
+1 to Lindy.
Why is nothing going in the right place?!!?
He really DID break the Internet
It’s truly the End of Days
I think he did break the internet. I can’t make hear nor tail of who’s responding to who in this post.
@Jammypants: Some posts got deleted or something and it just sort of went haywire after that.
LOL! This is gold.
The comments are a bit screwed up now…
@MissMary – “delicate, noble beauty” is how I insist all my friends describe me to strangers, I make them sign a contract and everything. Points awarded for best turn of phrase thus far.
@Dara: Not even kidding, a bunch of Sophiestans use those phrases to apply to her… I get liking the woman, fine, whatevs, no accounting for taste, but delicate noble beauty? Is she a horse? A sculpture?
And I gotta say… no matter how one feels about the situation, it is pretty amusing the ONLY pics of them together are from FO or screen caps from Burlesque Fairy Tales. I’ve seen some sites photoshopping them together and it’s hilarious as f*ck.
Love the Sophie pics here, they’re at least 5 or 7 years old.
@Freebunny, re the pics: Well, she’s so shy… *snerk*
Seriously, like he’s heir to the throne or something?
+1
Well I’m glad that nobody is upset about this.
*giggle snort*
+1000
HAHAHAHA
I dont think I fall into the crazed fan bucket but Re: Elections. We’re not all US based so while we can care, we couldn’t have affected the outcome as we can’t have voted.
Right? And some of us *gasp* did vote and followed the election results. I’m proud to say that my vote helped out the weasly anti-woman douche in the senate race! *pats self on back*
Wait, I just realized that sounded weird. I didn’t help out the douche, I helped to ‘out’ him. Or oust him? Never mind…
@sigh((s)) – thanks for clarifying. I was about to revise my entire opinion of you. Sadly, you are going to have to narrow down that statement though. To which weasily anti-woman policitian are you referring? The choices are many I’m afraid.
The anti-woman guy Who had a ‘men only’ political fundraiser where the invitation said to not tell the missus because they were going to be discussing important things, got a lot of beef about it, then said that he was sure his female opponent goes to lingerie parties all the time and how was that different?
😉
@sigh((s)) – Wut? I just can’t with that statement. Did he get any votes at all?
@ dara
Oh, yes, he definitely did. He’s a good ole boy type. Urgh.
hahahah I was wondering about that. Bragging about helping a woman hating douche? *lol*
I’m calling it now, this thread will be in the Top 5 commented on when CB does their year end tally.
I guess I didn’t get the memo, but I think I gasped a little when I saw 400 comments (and counting). That’s some Otterhard sh-t right there.
I have never watched Sherlock and rarely read posts on Cumberbatch. I’m just here because I’m amazed at how many people have commented on his engagement. This will likely go down as the most commented celeb story of 2014, even ahead of the Amalooney wedding extravaganza.
Me too Kibbles. Never watched Sherlock and read exactly one story about him after the first time I heard his voice. When I saw the amount of comments I thought, wow, why?
Well that explains why they seemed like a comfortably bored old married couple at the tennis match.
Fans have to assume he’s bright enough to know what makes him happy (and the same for her; this is a bigger change in HER life).
An engagement is a wonderful thing, except you´re the Otter god.
I love the comments. Good day for gossip. But for real you guys call the Twihards crazy?!
Cumberb*tches around the world feel this at the moment:
http://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg661%2F6177%2Fr8WP5U.gif&key=2iwL_p17gsm7emC-Cpet1Q&w=480&h=211.5
Dany, that is a beautiful picture. I LOVE it. I think the Cumberboy will need to use it a lot in the future. 🙂
Too bad he couldn’t marry Olivia.
She was way more interesting as an actress and perhaps as a human being too.
Real Talk:
1) I wish this was some kind of hoax, but I have a strong feeling that it is oh, so very real.
2) Everyone keeps saying, “this is so not like him.” Um, not like his public persona. We have no idea who he really is…
3) People change. Fame changes people. I have a feeling BC will be riding the weirdo train from now on. We probably won’t get pics of the Cumberbabies until they are 18.
4) I, personally, will own it: Totally, I’d be a little irrationally sad no matter who BC married. But I’m actually sad because I don’t like this one and the whole thing feels weird.
5) It doesn’t matter what I think but I just find her to be super cookie cutter posh girl. BC is not only massively talented, successful and hard working. He is playful, passionate and witty – bursting with personality. And he’s very involved in charity and has a diverse group of friends (even if heavy on the posh side). Sophie does not appear to be any of those things. Not evil – but just a dry debutante.
6) She does look like a budget, younger version of his mom. (Wanda’s face was prettier and she had “body.”) I’m not calling her ugly, just not my type. She’s got the posh, tall, rail thin, horsey thing going on that those upper class English dudes seem to be into. Of course, she doesn’t need to be gorgeous and outrageously accomplished to be a good mate. But usually a wonderful personality off sets those things. She just appears super bland from where I sit, which is admittedly very far away.
7) I get the falling in love quickly thing. Especially when you already know each other. But, in my experience, I’ve always observed it to be a “lightning bolt, starry eyed, singin’ in the rain and don’t care bout what nobody says, let’s be crazy kids attached at the hip and sighing every other breath” kind of thing. Maybe BC is the ultimate actor and Sophie’s better at it than we thought?
8) BC made an impression in one interview that made it seem like he would be too careful to accidentally impregnate someone. And wouldn’t she be showing by now?
9) This looks like a “we match on paper and you’re a slight social upgrade – I want kids and ‘the mother of my children’ is not coming – let’s just do this” kind of thing. But I don’t think it is.
10) While I wouldn’t want BC to settle, I almost think that it would be better. I’m super disappointed that all that banging on about the love of his life and the mother of his children not just being anyone culminated in…. Sophie Hunter? Not saying she’s a loser by any stretch. But, really bro? That’s your unicorn? That’s what we got psyched for? Okay. Cumby should take a job in PR when he’s done acting. He could get People, all the Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, E!, NBC, CBS, ABC, the Guardian and CNN to cover a stray poodle taking a sh!t on a hot sidewalk in Newark.
11) If BC didn’t hate us by now, he will totally hate the fandom by end of day. But he needs to get over it or retire. I can’t help it. I jest cain’t quit’im.
12) Sincerely, I genuinely wish them all the best. I hope her personality actually rocks hard and they are crazy in love. I hope they can get over all the hemming and hawing from us nobodies out here and just live without being dopey. I hope they have a long, happy, healthy marriage blessed with happy, healthy, cute and kind children. I hope.
“While I wouldn’t want BC to settle, I almost think that it would be better. I’m super disappointed that all that banging on about the love of his life and the mother of his children not just being anyone culminated in…. Sophie Hunter? Not saying she’s a loser by any stretch. But, really bro? That’s your unicorn? That’s what we got psyched for? Okay.”
THIS is why all of the fans and people are upset, for anyone that doesn’t understand. Not that he’s found someone to settle down with… but someone who doesn’t seem “right” for him.
It upsets me, too. I honestly thought he’d end up with someone different. At least with a person who put a smile on his face the same way Olivia did. Oh well.
I get that, HBIC – but there’s a chance that maybe – just maybe – he was playing up that aspect in interviews as a PR thing? I mean, who knows. Maybe he settled, maybe he thinks the world of Sophie. I don’t know, and I doubt we’ll figure it out any time soon – maybe not ever. I get why people are upset – but at least these two posts (yours and me’s) were explained in a much less harsh way, I guess? Who knows – maybe Sophie is a fantastic person, and maybe she doesn’t come off well in public settings. God knows, the love of my life and I don’t look like we have raging chemistry when we’re out and about. I’d hate for people to pick apart some candid photos of us, because I can only imagine what kind of mess they’d assume we were.
I think on paper… she’s a good choice. And she probably is a nice person in real life… but I’m going off of his behavior. Everything screams “wrong” to me. He doesn’t seem like he’s really happy. Why hide the love of your life? He always struck me as a person who would shout it from the rooftops… he came off that way with Olivia and Anna James… and now this odd, weird behavior? The “cloak and dagger” game with the fans and the press, as someone put it up thread??? Something is amiss.
Either way… if he’s satisfied with his choice to marry her… we should all be happy for him. I still and will not believe she’s truly “the one”… but I know how much he wants a family. And she meets all of the criteria of coming off as the “right woman to marry and have kids with”, or whatever that means. Good luck to them.
And yes… we will see how they act when it comes time to pose on the red carpet. That will say it all. Pictures can speak volumes (I think they can, at least).
Thanks for your posts HBIC. I agree with pretty much everything you say. I have my doubts this will last. I kinda hope I’m right. He deserves better
Wow. Took a day off work today, slept in super late, and awoke to all this. It’s like Christmas! All the loonies everywhere…
Not sure what to think about this engagement. I am a fan of BC and am happy for him. Am hoping this is what he wants. I immediately thought of Olivia Poulet when I heard the news. If I were her, this would sting a little. Together for such a long time and then…this.
I wonder why his best bud Adam Ackland tweeted a congrats then promptly took it down. Also Lady Kinvara is awfully quiet…
What did Adam tweet??
He retweeted a news site stating BC is engaged and how his fan base is incredibly supportive. About 20 minutes later, he took it down.
Yeah he’d legit be the first person I’d expect a public congrats from. Weird.
Oh for goodness sake. Why don’t all these people grow up?
Here’s a news site and his fanbase is supportive? Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it?
I think Sophie is beautiful. I don’t think any woman he is with is going to have it easy. She is perfect on paper and we don’t know anything other than that. I think his getting married will help lower his stress level. There will be fewer crazy women bothering him. From the latest interviews, he seems very worn down from it. If I were him, I would do what he did. Find a suitable, pretty woman and settle down.
Let’s face it. At the end of the day we all want companionship. You stop thinking that you will feel like you did when you were 20. You just want to be with someone you can get along with and share your life with. You could wait a very long time to find someone who ticks all the boxes for you. That is where I am right now. I’m 50 and am starting to be more realistic about things. You get over the crazy love after a year or two, then you are stuck with compatibility issues. His friends know her, so she is a very safe choice for him.
We do not know if she is funny or not. She does seem very reserved and not as effusive as he is in public, but who knows? I kind of suspect she is already pregnant. That is why he has been acting so strange the last two months. That does not mean he won’t be happy though. I do hope she treats him well. I hope he is super happy and has the emotional support he needs. She is the eldest child of 5, so she is probably pretty good at being a caregiver.
A very smart take on it all, I must say. I wish them both the best as it has to be difficult living in the spotlight and I hope she can provide a stable environment for his workaholic nature. Time will tell if they can keep their careers in balance to maintain a relationship but hers seems to be the more flexible one to be able to follow him around. We will see. I also agree that she is or will be pregnant very very soon. She is getting up there in age and it’s always best (though not always necessary) to get pregnant before your 40’s.
*ukbound*
You mentioned several of the reasons why I think marriage could be very good for Cumby. Sophie may not be as effusive or outgoing as him, but compatibility is often about balancing each other out. The differences may work very well. Often the life of the party type that enters a room mouth-first settles down with the quieter, more reserved type.
*MountainRunner*
I think marriage would be good for him. Being super famous and traveling all the time has to be super lonely. There is no reason to work so hard if you have nothing to go home to. I think he chose well. She will fit in easily to his life. How many regular people would feel comfortable on the red carpet or being in the public eye like that? He almost had to get an actress, someone who was OK with that. That is a harsh glare. I also think he will feel relieved to not have so many women staring at him and swooning over him. That can’t be easy for a 38 year old serious actor..
So what happened to his very recent comments at the LFF about how he was ‘single’ and just hanging out with his niece for the evening as said to the bartender? What about the on-set anon who asked if he found someone special to give his mom some grand babies and he said ‘not yet’? This whole thing with this woman has been odd from the start, hiding, no chemistry then BAM! we have an engagement and it is because he’s ‘private’? Nah, keep it to yourself and just get married since you said you would tell people to ‘F off’ in the street if they bothered you or your family. He’s just odd now. Talented but odd.
Didn’t he recently tell people at the LFF after party that he is hanging out with his niece and is single to some wait staff along with an on set woman who asked about a special someone?
@Lauren: Yes. More than one person was told that. If it was an attempt at being coy, it sucks because now it smacks of either not giving an eff about the woman he was supposedly dating, or it makes this engagement look shady.
Technically, he is still single. He is not married. If he is just dating, he is single. He didn’t lie, he just did not answer with any more information than he wanted to.
I’d have been miffed if when I was engaged, Mr Lindy was telling people he was single and I know he’d have been the same.
By law yes, but it’s still just semantics and a bit silly, he’s smart enough to deflect if he doesn’t want to answer, especially if it’s just someone he’s met at a party.
If this was a month ago, he would have known it was serious enough then, if they’re announcing an engagement in the frikkin Times 4 weeks later.
I still have that image of him leaving her in the car on their recent date. *cringe* I do hope they feel like they can behave a bit more like a “normal” couple in public now. ngl, I think they’re an odd couple but whatever. The heart wants what the heart wants.
If you need a good laugh on this, check it out:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/cumbershocked
Holy Deerstalkers!! I ‘m double-damned. Well, thank GOD she appears to be a woman of intelligence, not that Katia creature. Or that bottle of coke-dew, Lydia Hearst. The whole wedding will be velvet. Velvet toilets, velvet table linens…it’ll will be amazing. I’m very happy for them. Of course, he never had the chance to meet me, so….well, all happiness to them.
Holy Cow, look at all the comments! Crazy!
ha
LOL! Wow, I did not see this coming! I thought they were dating, but engaged so soon? At least now they can be photographed together…
Do we think she’s pregnant and they wanted to announce the engagement before she started to show? :p haha
Seriously though, I am happy for them. I think he really wanted to be married and have kids before it was ‘too late’ (after 40?), and found a lady who could be a good match for him.
It won’t be easy, with him being so busy all the time and so popular right now, but I wish them the best!
At least now all the secret girlfriend stuff can end (that’s what sucked me in here in the first place, lol)
I doubt any and all pregnancy rumors mainly b/c those came straight from someone on EB saying her dress was ugly and loose.
Nah, I don’t think she’s pregnant from that, but from this very quick engagement. They’ve been together less than a year, by all accounts. I was sure he’d date someone 2+ years before getting engaged.
But who knows, it might be another few years before they actually get married. But I think it’ll be sooner rather than later. He wants to get started on those kids. Lol.
i was thinking they will prob get married pretty quick because of the announcement. i don’t see why they would do the paper thing, then be engaged for a yr or more. that said, his sched. look pretty full. maybe they will have a quickie thing in greece ;-). or maybe they just wanted ppl to stfu
omg this thread is crazzyyyyy. so entertaining
Congrats to the couple, hope you have a happy life together.
That’s all I got.
Congratulations to Benedict and Sophie.
I hope they have a happy life together and I do like the classy, traditional way they announced it. It is still a very common way to announce an engagement here in New Zealand so it felt right to me.
Oh the fall out from this news is fun. LOL
This guys fans are absolutely crazy loon-tastic. They make the JenHens and Brangeloonies look sane lol.
Be right back, going to check Craigslist and eBay for bargain (tear-stained) Hamlet tickets.
Ooh, I never thought of that! There will probably be some available tickets now. Thanks!
THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD. [fires up Tumblr]
But no, congrats to them.
490 comments listed at 1pm Central time in the US. Where are they all? It looks like they are disappearing.
I hope this site is not broken now.
672 comments as of 10:30 Wednesday, Central time. I think a bunch of comments are disappearing though. I wonder if there is a new post limit?
Over 500 comments for HIM?
Ikr! Crazy lol
I saw this comment on EB and it is gold. ROTFL!
“She can be in Sherlock!!! Don’t they need an extra to act as one of those dead bodies Sherlock pulls out of the cold room at the morgue? Perfect role for SH, no expression required”
I am sad. I am really, really sad. He was supposed to…
If someone says they hope he breaks up with her before they marry, or within 2 years, you are sick. You should not wish that on anyone, least of all a person you proclaim to admire.
It was inevitable he would find someone posh and suitable. I feel sorry for him. What a bunch of ruckus. Like her or not, it is the choice he made. At least do not wish ill will on him.. 🙁
@Ukbound: I haven’t seen anyone saying they “hope” it’ll happen, just that they “think” it’ll happen. But yeah, it’s a catty thing to say.
There is much worse stuff being said on other sites. Some people really take the internet to be a license to be cruel. Hopefully they would never say that to someone’s face. I hope to God she is good to him, he is happy and makes lots of Cumberbabies. How sad for him to have people wishing he doesn’t make it to the altar. I’m sure he will not miss the crazy female attention he has been getting for a few years. It must have added a huge level of stress to his life.
I doubt very much that ‘female’ attention has caused him stress in his life, crazy or otherwise. It’s nothing to do with him. Internet based tattle. That’s all. He really isn’t a superstar, the world at large just doesn’t care and if he’s sitting at home biting his nails because a few girls are drooling over him on tumblr then he’s a total idiot. I really haven’t seen the ‘much worse stuff’ you’re talking about online. People have theories and gossip but there’s nothing horrendous. Tbh I’m pretty disturbed by the people crying and shaking with joy over some guy they don’t know getting engaged.
OMG George the master of wine died? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Where can I apply for that job???
Wanda must be ecstatic – her son found a bird!
I can see how she carefully clips The Times announcement out of the newspaper and puts it into little golden frames.
And if Wanda is pleased, then I must be too… 😉
And to think that she looks like a British version of me…
*sobs*
Moving on…
Aww…are you Cumber-cuties gonna be okay? (((Hugs)))
The scariest part for me is that the Crazytown Meltdown is going to chase me away from the fandom for awhile and there’s a chance I’ll have to stay away until I don’t really “care” about him anymore. (Maybe he will also celebrate the death of half of his fandom too?)
Of course, will still admire his talent. But I don’t think any more of his news will be that exciting? Sick& selfish thing to admit, but if I was excited about his choice, I’d be totally excited to see the one or two wedding pics they’ll share with the media. And I’d be excited to hear about the first pregnancy, etc. But she’s ridonckulously anti-climactic. So, nah.
Hopefully, everyone can get on with sending genuine well wishes to the couple soon.
I suspect his life will be much calmer very soon. It is kind of like when Donny Osmond got married. He won’t seem so interesting when you imagine him with someone else. He can no longer be your fantasy male robot, fulfilling all your desires and he is always nice to you, because you never meet him. That’s a good thing. No one could live up to that..
I wonder where this post will end up. Testing 1 2 3
BC and SH look a bit alike. I hope they have a bunch of tall, thin, long-faced, blue eyed kids and live happily ever after 🙂
Maybe now he can relax a little bit about this whole thing and appear happy in public. He won’t have people asking him about his next gf/ relationship status b/c he headed them off at the pass and went straight to engagement announcement. Well done.
*Edit* Comment landed at 104, when it was meant to go at 152. Haha.
good sis wants that Oscar. Never seen two thirstier individuals than Redmayne and Cumberbatch this season – like a pair of Winslets!
Redmayne’s going to get the wedding in before Christmas, though: he’s got that advantage over Cumberbatch. It might score him a few more points in the Oscar race.
IDK I kind of like the annoucement because they did it themselves. no giving ‘exclusives’ to some celeb paper.
it’s genuine I think. His PR’s not dumb, this won’t help IG box office-could hurt it tbh-and isn’t the best time for the oscars.
I am definitely getting a Hamlet ticket now. And I’ll bet I won’t have to pay full price.
Smart lass!
Can’t believe how many comments this article has received. Some of you lurkers need to post more often.
I know, it’s amazing in every sense of the word. Did you hear Sophie eats dead babies for breakfast? It was mentioned upthread. 😉
No, it’s live ones. She saves the dead ones for her performance art where she wears the fake belly and writhes on the floor.
Is this officially the most commented on post in the history of Celebitchy? I hope so! I’ve been plugging away all day and have only gotten through about 1/3 of the comments. That being said, I think it’s legit. But I’m also sure age played a role in how fast it all happened.
I think so, too, about the age and legitimacy of it. He’s so booked up with work for the next couple years, if he has a woman he loves and is ready/willing to get married to and start a family with, now’s a good time to do it. The big 4-0 is probably staring at him preeetty hard 🙂
I wasn’t going to comment but here I am, 550+ comments in. This whole thing just seems so…strange. She’s like a pointy faced version of him? But they seem like strangers near each other?
At the end of the day, rich marries rich and posh marries posh. It was highly unlikely for him to find the woman he constantly describe because he’s such a mummys boy that she would not have approved of what he REALLY wanted and he wouldn’t want to let her down. I don’t see this ending too well but wish him the best. If only his settling didn’t scream obvious, it would have been accepted differently. Time for a new celeb bf…Sebastian Stan, anyone?
But, doesn’t SH fit what he describes as his ideal woman? HE talked about finding an intelligent woman who is a good conversationalist, doesn’t need to get all decked out to be sexy, and works well with him like a good tennis partner. Idk about her conversation skills, but she’s educated, doesn’t seem to be too dolled up most of the time, and gets on with him (hopefully, considering they’re getting married). What wouldn’t Wanda approve of?
I think they do honestly love each other (might not be house-on-fire-burning-passion love, who knows. Doesn’t need to be) but this quick engagement is mostly b/c he’s getting older and wants that family. I wouldn’t consider it settling if they’re both happy and in love. 🙂
@tara, that’s kinda what all guys say though when they describe their ideal woman. i would have thought he would like a girl with some personality though. i mean olivia had tons of it and it made sense why he loved her.
Yeah, that’s true. But I think for him, he really meant it. Haha.
Agree with Blended – he always seemed so keen on someone a bit more lively. She’s at best a wet rag. Nothing against her I think she’s cute and works well on paper but she’s just soo bland.
Actually, not only do I agree with blended, but Tara’s reference to BC’s ideal (originally published in Japanese Elle or Vogue or something) left out one important thing. He said sense of humor was also very important. Maybe Sophie yucks it up. But I don’t think so. Or maybe what everyone thought was a weird translation was spot on and he actually meant, “chick who laughs at all my jokes.”
Nope not common in the UK. only amongst royals etc. All a bit silly IMO and obviously something to avoid if you don’t want the world knowing your business.
Honestly, comment 143 and 152 have had me in stitches for over 5 minutes. Too funny! Plain awesome!
Update: I just saw that the numbers shift. I mean the two comments about the bragging and that politician. I’m still laughing.
@annie- you’re welcome. Glad I made somebody laugh. I should’ve read it out loud before I posted.
😉
Im laughing at comments elsewhere saying
“What a beautiful voice she has…so talented “.
Its essentially French whispering in a sing song voice.
http://guychambers.com/isis-project/
if she wasnt with him, they couldnt care less about her singing.
@Lindy: If she wasn’t with him, she wouldn’t be a blip on anyone’s radar, period.
will be interested to see if she takes advantage of the attention to benefit her crap career now
I don’t dislike her. The worst I’ve said is that she’s a bit “art for arts sake” and I stand by that. She comes from money and that’s afforded her the ability to try different things, but there is no pressure to make money to keep herself, that’s not her fault.
But neither am I going to be like some I’ve seen elsewhere “oh she’s perfect for him, she’s so pretty and talented, their babies will be so gorgeous!”
serious question: who was the girl he took as a date to NT? it was only in august. and i don’t think it was the Elle writer, who may be attractive, but is certainly not ‘stunning’. was this debunked and i missed it?
Nah, still an unsolved mystery. What I want to know is, as of the resto pap shot, no ring?
@claire, i suspect they planned to not show the ring to deflect engagement rumours at that time. goes to show they knew they would be papped that night. there will be a ring now since the announcement, you can bet on that.
People are acting like no one else on the planet puts their engagement and wedding announcement in the paper.
I live in Dallas, Texas and literally the daily here had a full Sunday section for just that, with pictures of the couples, wedding portraits, anniversary parties, the works. So all this BS about how it was announced is just that BS.
@ Allheavens
I always seem to be responding to your posts but you have the same point of view on this madness. It is very common here, as well, to put a notice of your engagement in the local newspaper.
Of course it was going to be announced at some stage and I like this way. No bells and whistles just a traditional notice on behalf of them both and their respective families. Many media outlets are calling it classy and low key. I cannot see what the fuss is about.
I think it’s more rare in the UK but I was just saying below it’s better than the usual announcing through People or whatever, in my view, at least. I’m sure they could have been on the cover of something together like others have done if they wanted.
And by going public, we’re all going to be spared ‘Is He Dating Sophie Hunter?’ etc. articles every time they hit the red carpet from here on out, thank God.
It’s traditional but quite common in the UK – BBC3 news last night said his parents posted the announcement.
it is one of those traditions that was/still is mainly carried out within posh circles or those with upper class aspirations but is not as popular as it used to be. It used to come with the groom works for so and so etc to show off that it was a good match etc .
For Benny it hits the midpoint of making it public with out the appearance of a media announcement .But of course he knew that the media would run with it which is pretty much his trade mark cover for I want my privacy but I also want the attention
Or how about he likes his privacy but has to announce it somehow? Otherwise it’s a piece in one of the rags quoting a “friend” and it wouldn’t be believed. And as my post above apparently his parents placed the Times ad and his rep confirmed it.
602 comments?! REALLY?!
Good grief.
603 COMMENTS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!
Translation: the most entertaining meltdown ever!!!!!!
I’m surprised it hasn’t shut down yet. I hope it doesn’t. Im too entertained.
jammypants: I bought a bottle of wine to keep following (and have fun with) this post, hahahaha. This is awesome!
I was out all day yesterday but am sitting here today with champagne and nuts enjoying the fall out.
Are we up to 600 comments yet? lol I think we broke the comments section. Not sure how I got up here. I should be 170ish.
She’s pretty. In a plain girl sort of way. With terrible fashion sense.
agreed.
Actually I thought her dress at the TIG premiere was very stylish.
Good for him. I hope it works out.
Now, perhaps all this white hot hormonal attention on him will cool down and we’ll just be able to enjoy him for the talented actor he is.
What is the record for number of comments on a Celebitchy post? 🙂
i’m very weirded out by the fact that the dumb woman in the Fail, and senyorita got it right, and us level-headed ones got it so wrong, lol. i am honestly still gobsmacked by this news, and i’ve had all day to process it.
As someone below said, either a leak and/or senyorita is one of SH’s friends/family. I know people say Philippines IP address, but those can be faked easily.
First Amal Clooney and now this woman over here. It’s incredible how much hate a woman can get just for marrying a famous rich guy. Have we even heard or read an interview about this person? Sit down, people. They’re getting married. Save the snark and hate for actually awful people doing the actually awful stuff.
Exactly Josefa!
He is a hard working and talented actor who also happens to be a decent man and he has done nothing to deserve this negativity and nor has Sophie.
Yes, save the insults and snark for someone who has said or done something awful.
I love you Ben!
I’ll wait for you!
I’ll dream of you!
what do people think of Amanda Abbingtons response on twitter? i think it just a joke about fandom freak out? maybe? someone tweeted her the news and she said “aaahh”. thats it. i think his friends, other than rhodes, are keeping quiet to avoid being hasseled. am i a bitch for saying i think this seems like forced settling? i kow how binkers it is to say that about people i do not know from a hole in the ground, but still, something about it seems weird. maybe SH just wanted privacy, totally possible, but the whole thing. he was always so affections and open, then hardly seen together, then getting married? Even rhodes “old friends fall in love” tweet screams we could have been together, chose not too, but now we’re almost 40. ok then. then again, maybe he wanted to give his parents the chance to announce it in a trad way? lol that was rambly. im home sick *sniff*
This thread is hilarious. Also very very long indeeed. What is the record.
Looks like the nutters who post on that eggsbenedish tumblr have waddled over to here.
@betsy: You’ll know for sure when the “she has noble beauty” posts start.
I´d like to know more about how was the instant reaction you´ve had with the news. (My english is so awful, this is my first comment, but here we go)
– I felt really sad. Of course I´d love to have a relationship with him and had fantasies, and here comes Sophie to destroy everything in my perfect imaginary world. (How dare you, b****?)
– I remember of reading something he said about projection. It makes sense because he used to have skills that fascinates me on a man and are sooooooo difficult to find nowadays. His talent, voice, eloquence, intelligence, sense of humor, cuteness, respect for women, hands, ass, curls, etc;
– His public persona is getting Strange and incoherent. Like someone who tries to please everybody and become false. I wanna be wrong;
– Dear Benedict and Sophie, now that everybody knows you´re in love, please stop faking indifference and show us affection! (You´re faking it, right??) I´ll be a little sad at the beginning but I – and all your fans – can perfectly take it. Here´s a couple who may love each other but looks like the opposite. Sorry Sophie, you just seem to be boring. I look at you and suddenly want to sleep. Again, I wanna be wrong because I do wish the best to the King of the Otters;
– If I had to suggest someone to him, it would be Eva Green. Can you imagine? She´s also talented, intelligent, exotic and they would look hot together;
– Free hugs to everyone. I need some.
Ho-lee-sh-t, what’s going on up in here? Over 600 comments!
Is there a prize for reaching a certain number post? My goodness.
C’mon people, a 1000 comments by tonight! We can do it!
Does anyone need more wine?
almost 700 comments about a couple getting engaged. crazy.
IIRC the Hiddles post just after the bora bora holiday got over 600 comments, and that wasn’t the subject of the article.
Ugh. New conspiracy theory that I think is more likely than Sophie already being knocked up…
This makes me side eye him until I look like Linda Blair.
Remember he gave an interview around New Year’s where he talked about his “goals, personal goals?”
The vast majority of us, myself included, quickly dismissed the idea that his personal goals would involve concrete accomplishments with deadlines regarding his love life. Up until then, he had painted a detailed picture of wanting “the real thing.”
Welp. Guess not. Two months before 2015, BC’s “personal goals” for 2014 are complete. He is engaged to be married to an “appropriate” friend who will bear him children that will either be terribly deformed or look a lot like him. (Because they do look blood related in a serious way.)
The whole thing reminds me of more interwebs spewing from DataLounge a while back when a poster said BC was more interested in “genetic material” than the actual woman with whom he’d share a life and create children. Looks like it was true? If BC’s main concern was marrying similarly or “up” in the British caste system and having Cumberclones who can play the piano, ride and speak French… Well, then Sophie is a fine choice.
I totally bought his true love schpiel. What a schmuck I am 😛
PS – You chicks with the wine? Love ya, but are you sure you’re not drinking your own feels away?
@ Me
This makes me side eye you until I look like Linda Blair, whatever that means. What a horrible post.
Somebody ready up another serving of crow for me just in case this DOES last past March…
MissMary I like your optimism this engagement won’t last! He can do better than her. I’m hesitant to join you for fear of disappointment though. also did you notice how her failed acting career and her unnoticed and lukewarm reviewed directing career has been spun as “accomplished director and actress”? Someone’s had some pr work done…
so no odds on which publication they will sell the wedding photos to.I am opting for Hello -boring but posh enough.
I feel like I’ve been dropped into some strange performance art. It will be interesting to see if Hunterbatch (apparently that’s what they’re called now?) shows up together here in the US. Isn’t BC scheduled to be here for a whirlwind of publicity for TIG starting Friday?? I can’t even hazard a guess as to whether he’ll discuss his engagement, suddenly sounding like a man in love, or if he’ll ignore it all. Will she accompany him to the States? Will there suddenly be photos of them gazing at each other with love in their eyes, while holding hands or will they continue to arrive places separately??
I need to pop an extra large bag of popcorn for the spectacle to come.
And before anyone attacks me, I could care less that he’s marrying SH. I’m just side-eyeing their behavior.
I haven’t read the comments yet but wanted to add this before I head off to bed (worked last night).
I think that Benedict s primary objective this year was to start a family. I think he’s thinking of his parents and wants to make them grandparents. I think he’s been going around his circle of friends to find the most suitable candidate. And someone who would say yes to baby and marriage
In England there has to be public notice of intent to marry for 15 days before someone can marry. Im going extreme conspiracy theory here and say that there will be a November or early December wedding-before sherlock starts shooting. I think sophie is already pregnant with the Cumberchild. Time will tell. Off to bed.
i have to agree that i think one of his goals was to get his family situation on lock this year. i thought that the min he said he had “personal goals”, when was that? spring? I also kind of agree that he possibly gave up on the idea of meeting a new person in his life, so he just shopped real local. does that mean he is settling? not sure. if he really wants a family and really thinks he can’t meet anyone else, it might not be a bad plan to pick an old friend that you know you get along w/love. I know men and women who have wanted kids and it didn’t work out, and its one of the greatest regrets of their life and a few say they almost wish they had picked *insert ex name* so they would have children by now. He even said in old interviews that he wish he had had children w OP, and that was after their breakup.
Thanks for the info on engagements needs to be announced two weeks before! I had no idea that was a thing. it WOULD be some great tea if they got married that quickly!
Oops forgot this-the other site said that “Hunterbatch” was floating around. No way should her name go first! How bout “otterpussy”?
now I’m off – way off!
A bit late in here. I considered myself part of the ‘cumber collective’ a while back, but nowadays not so much. I felt like in some way, BC decided to ‘sell out.’ I still haven’t read all the comments but I did also come up with a conspiracy theory: that SH is pregnant and BC wants the baby but not the girl. BC’s parents also want the baby (and may also be still quite conservative) so they push for a wedding, hence their official announcement. BC is trapped in the situation and feels miserable so he looks like it.
Amazing article today in DM
On Monday, Ben made a marriage proposal, and on Wednesday already posting their engagement. Perfect PR, such antediluvian never seen. Interestingly, it is the day after the Oscars, will the announcement of the termination of the engagement.
I want to see Ben’s face, with which he will play a role worthy of an Oscar.
Disappointed.
OMG. Seriously? TIME did….that? :0
I’m stunned–expected this thread to have hit 1000 comments by now. But hearing about the TIME piece more than makes up for it! (TIME also did a little thing when THidds played at Wheatland, so I’d say they just have a weakness for the hot Brits.)
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I have one question how do we know that they have been friends this whole time. Just because you work with someone doesn’t make you best buddies. He worked with J.J. Abrams, since he was surprised to see him at TIF or LFF I doubt they hang out. So, all we can truly say is that they were co-workers on a movie 5 years ago. If they had really been friends all this time don’t you think a move would have been made to date sooner than this. Especially since she broke up with Shawcross back in 2010.
Another thing that has been bugging me today is his comment on the red carpet of the Imitation Games screening. He was just asked about it being nice to have strong support from his fans. He said that it was, but that the only support that he really needed was from the woman that he had just proposed to. That just hit me as an insult to his fans, you know the people who got him to where he is today. So maybe we should all ban together and boycott Imitation Games. Then she can sneak in the back exit and be the only one their to support his work. After all she is the only support that matters to him now.
My last issue is that I find all the mystery of whatever this is stupid. Anyone notice that she still hasn’t shown up to anything. I don’t see how they consider this having a “normal” life. I hope that he enjoys acting like this and having to seek around for the rest of his life, because I could be wrong but I don’t think things are going to change on that front. In an article about her relationship with Shawcross she said that she eschews clubs and red carpet events and that she doesn’t hang out with celebrities. Instead she hung out with her small circle of friends.